To ask why there are sweeteners in nearly all soft drinks?

[wildlifeWalker]

I've stopped drinking alcohol but would like a replacement drink to put in a wineglass.
Nearly every cordial or sparkling drink I've looked at contains sweeteners which I absolutely hate the taste of. The only thing I've found is Belvoir sparkling elderflower which is nice but pricy!
I would just mix my own with fizzy water if I could find a nice, not too sweet cordial. I thought about pure grape juice but my supermarket doesn't do it.

I have always hated the taste of sugar free stuff. would rather go without.
Last year i had about 4 sugarfree lemon sweets from lidl in 1 afternoon and then had cramps and diarrhoea. I have since noticed when I consume sugar free stuff it tends to go right through me so think i must have an intolerance.

Do you remember the name of the book? I’d love to read it. I had to stop reading a couple of months ago as I ended up feeling like the food industry was trying to murder me and my family which isn’t entirely rational, I’m currently reading the Henry Dimbleby report which eye opening.

Whilst it doesn't talk about artificial sweeteners, there's a brilliant book called Swindled, about historical food adulteration, by Bee Wilson. It makes you realise why a lot of the rules are needed but how slow change can be regarding adulterants and how we view some stuff. Ie all the "natural" sweeteners may not be viewed so favourably in the future.

@Unwisebutnotillegal I think it was the original edition of "E is for additives"

All of this info on sweeteners is so eye opening.
I just knew there was something not quite right in the taste of them.

Last year i had about 4 sugarfree lemon sweets from lidl in 1 afternoon and then had cramps and diarrhoea.

The sweetener in those is sorbitol (you can recognise it because it makes things feel cold in your mouth). Sorbitol is an osmotic laxative.

I was totally pissed off last time I had a fentimans, which you pay top whack for anyway, as soon.as I opened it I could smell the sweeteners. Id rather drink water.

Michael Mosley also makes the really good point that sweeteners increase our tolerance for sweetness. It’s much better to know when you are having sugar, and learn to need less of it.

I mix fresh orange with sparkling water or soda water.

Or, my mock mojito which is soda water, fresh ginger, lemon (or lime or grapefruit), mint and a tiny dash of homemade sugar syrup.

Okay it's Friday night and I've just been into town to check labels. I must have checked 20 bottles of cordial or sparkling drinks and all had sweeteners listed. Felt a bit despondent by the end!

Anyway, I got some Polish raspberry (which tastes lovely), plus some Belvoir elderflower cordial. Oh and a bottle of Angostura bitters as recommended!

I also found a bottle of Franklin Rhubarb hibiscus tonic water in the cupboard (that came with a mini gin I think). Not a tonic water fan but think I'll try this as no sweetener!

Now for some mixing!

Same here. Aldi and Lidl peddle those as the healthier option, they used to be near the tills I think? My colleague once bought a box of Fruit Tella sugar free drops and complained all afternoon. He only had a couple. I get awful cramps from those. There’s an Amazon review of sugar free gummy bears in the US, I think, where people kept getting revenge on their greedy coworkers by leaving them out for them to help themselves.