Sweeteners in drinks

[MathiasBroucek]

I can't do artificial sweeteners. They mess with my bladder

I'm therefore pretty careful about what I drink. I avoid all "diet" drinks and read ingredients lists carefully. I even now have to avoid cranberry juice...

Last night I was peeing all night. I couldn't understand why but this morning I remembered I'd had some (non-diet) Schweppes tonic which is something I've drunk for ages. Checked the bottle this morning: sodium saccharin.

AIBU to say that the idiot politicians who introduced the "sugar tax" did not think through the unintended consequences?

As I said up thread, they're in so many things you wouldn't expect to contain them. It's in bowel prep required before a colonoscopy FFS 🤬

Soluble cocodamol too

I do wonder if they're actually in the bowel prep due to their laxative properties, that's certainly the effect they have on me.

I think they taste fine and enjoy the occasional Pepsi Max Cherry. The obesity crisis tops your sugar cravings I’m afraid. If you want a proper sugary fizzy drink check out Jarritos, available in most Burrito places. Diabetes in a bottle!

Sweeteners give me a headache too. Coke and Irn Bru 1901 are fine and my local shop sells American imported Fanta if I want a change. I don’t have sugar in hot drinks so it’s only now and again that I want a cold sugary drink.

I drink wine when I’m out as I can’t trust that mixers will be ok. In Wetherspoons I like the Corona Cero for something cold and non alcoholic since they don’t do Coke there.

Fruit juices aren’t always safe as some places will have “orange juice drink” instead of fresh orange and the juice drinks have sweeteners.

Wow! I checked and literally all their other soft drinks have stevia. I wonder how that one escaped! But I’m glad to know, thank you.

RTFT. This is not about sugar cravings. It’s about synthetic chemical which are harmful to many people being added to all kinds of products without clear labelling.

Bloody KFC don't sell any normal sugar drinks. It pisses me off so much. Like I'm eating a KFC so it seems ridiculous trying to be "health conscious" with regards to the drink.

I don't drink fizzy drinks often but when I do I only like normal sugar ones. The sweetners give me pretty bad migraines.

Politicians have not removed choice.

Manufacturers have chosen what to sell and what not to and that's driven by the market and profit.

It's obviously much worse for people who are made ill by sweeteners, but it's also irritating for people like me who just dislike sweeteners that almost all fizzy drinks without them were withdrawn.
And I don't think "suck it up and do without because the obesity crisis is more important" is a winning argument, because I don't think it made a difference to the obesity crisis that we're prevented from having the occasional nice cold soft drink when those prone to obesity can still buy alcohol, crisps, sweets, cakes, doughnuts, chocolate, chips, ice cream and sausage rolls etc. to their heart's content. There are still more brands of cigarettes generally available than there are soft drinks without sweeteners (basically original Coke and that's it), so while it's not the greatest problem in my life it is annoying and feels disproportionate.

I feel your pain OP, it's difficult to get drinks without sweeteners in the supermarket, let alone in a bar. Juice I suppose, or bottled water. Or neat gin, probably best not to though!

Do you need to bring your peculiar brand of cheerlessness to Mumsnet?

What?! Since when?? Tbh i always use fever tree so had no idea. Always thought they were “premium” so no artificial

im shook

It’s stevia, which technically doesn’t have to be labelled as artificial but is and tastes like it is.

The Fevertree does contain stevia, but perhaps you don’t count that. I dislike the taste and it upsets my tum, but you appreciate you might be fine with it.

The list of ingredients from Fevertree's website and on the side of the tin I am looking at don't contain stevia. The sweetness comes from fructose.

https://fever-tree.com/en-gb/products/light-premium-indian-tonic-water

Edited to say that I think your image is for Fentiman's tonic.

I think you’re right. Thank you.

I am delighted to have been pointed towards Fevertree. Their advert (Zoe Ball or someone) which used to be repeated frequently on Classic FM was so annoying, but it’s good to have an alternative to Fentiman’s Mandarin & Seville.

For those saying we don’t need fizzy drinks, it’s good to have a change from still water (plus at most one glass of milk a day) which is all I can remember drinking in the last month or so. But I don’t get out much.

I don't normally drink flavoured tonic water but the Fevertree clementine tonic is delicious.

These drinks are lovely (see link below) - can particularly recommend the cream soda with rhubarb, and the plum and cherry. NO sweeteners at all (other than in their zero range).

Unfortunately they don't have their products in supermarkets but they're often in farm shops, independent cafes and delis. You can also order online.

Re: San Pellegrino .... I agree with the pp who's particularly frustrated by the fact it's still manufactured in Europe with sugar and tastes 100% better for it. It pees me off too that the orange and lemon 'classic' varieties contain sweeteners at the same time as the tastefully light more like tastelessly shite flavours sit right next to them on the shelf misleading you into thinking that at least a couple of flavours might have remained untampered with.

Overall it's bloody ridiculous that adults cannot choose (or must go to and great deal of extra bother) to enjoy a flavoursome non alcoholic drink once in a while without getting uncomfortable stomach cramps and/or the runs as a result. If you don't drink the proliferation of added sweeteners to soft drinks in pubs and restaurants makes for a pretty dull evening out with practically no choice at all. Yet you can add as many spoons of sugar into your tea or coffee as you wish, or buy as many sweets as you want.

https://shop.brecklandorchard.co.uk/

Unfortunately at least some of the Breckland Orchard drinks contain potassium sorbate. That is a common preservative ingredient in long-life gluten-free baked goods eg Tesco and Sainsbury’s cakes. I can’t taste it but it affects me even more badly than stevia does, 😢

But sugared drinks are not bad for everyone.

I would choose sugar over sweeteners for healthy children.

My relative with an eating disorder needs as many calories as possible. Eating disorders kill.

I get low blood sugar. Sugared drinks help a lot when I feel unwell.

Some companies still do both versions like San Pellegrino, but you have to look for "classic". Ocado stock it.

Like others I buy Belvoir, Bottle green, Fever Tree, full fat Coke.

I can't stand the taste. DD gets tummy upsets, DH just drinks wine!

I stock up like fuck on the flavoured San Pellegrino when we go to Europe. The UK version is ruined.

DH has PKU which means he can’t have anything which contains aspartame. This is supposed to be clearly labelled on bottles of soft drinks etc. but sometimes it’s so hard to see, and even when they aren’t labelled as diet they are still packed with crappy sweeteners.

YANBU

I wish that lower sugar drinks were simply that: less sweet because there’s less sugar in them. I find most sweetened drinks too sweet. I don’t want to drink loads of sugar, and I don’t want to drink loads of sugar substitutes, either. I just want the drink to be less sweet. I can dilute it but then the flavour is diluted too, so what’s the point?

@Aparecium Fevertree Refreshingly Light is just that - the same tonic water with less sugar.

I promise I don't work for them, but I find that their tonic water ticks all the boxes for me.

I rarely drink sweet soft drinks so it tends either to be tonic water, with or without gin in it, or lime and soda when I am out but driving.

At home my regular drinks of choice are tea, coffee and water. I know I sound judgemental here and am happy to own it, but I can't get my head around adults who quaff sweet fizzy drinks all day. It's as if they haven't grown out of drinking children's drinks. I get that not everyone drinks tea and coffee, but several cokes a day seems weird to me.