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?

Yes, that’s my tonic of choice. I still find it very sweet, and add either water or loads of ice.

I rarely drink fizzy drinks because I find them too sweet to be refreshing. My preferred cold drink is unsweetened herbal tea. I don’t take sugar in my ordinary tea, either. (The occasional cocoa is another matter entirely 🤭.)

Just coming back to this. Does anyone know of a lemonade without artificial sweeteners. Haven't been able to have a snowball this year because I can't find one in the supermarkets.

Even sprite, etc now do.

I think the Fevertree lemonade is the best option. It does have fructose, but no stevia or other sweeteners.

Waitrose own brand lemonade!

Vimto - look in Asian or Middle Eastern shops for international/export Vimto (in a glass bottle with Arabic writing). The last bottle I bought was just sugar although having said that they've probably buggered about with that now.

M&S do a lemonade without sweeteners. While I like the Fever Tree one the M&S feels like normal clear lemonade which is sometimes what you need rather than the posher type ones.

They do ones with sweeteners too so you just have to check the label to make sure it says “no artificial sweeteners” on the front.

YANBU. I hate sweeteners. I had a can of Fanta zero the other night for want of any other choice and I swear I could still taste the aftertaste of sweetener in the morning. Some supermarket high juices are sweetener free but I’ve found it very difficult to find Lemonade without sweeteners. Even the non “diet” ones. Pisses me right off.

Hate to break it to you but Fentimans now contains an artificial sweetner - I think it's Stevia.
I agree that the Rocks Blackcurrant is the best substitute for Ribena I've found - especially hot.

Thanks all and Happy Christmas ☺️

How was everyones christmas? I am suffering today - i had sole trifle that had sweetener in and drank some sainsburys premixed aperol spritz which may have had sweetener in but bottle doesnt list ingredients!! Really bad stomach cramps today.

I did really well until this morning and woke up with an upset stomach.

Not sure if it was last night's wine or something random.

Hope you feel well soon.

I found this online - petition to ban aspartame

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/742869

Sweeteners have wrecked squash for me. It's absolutely vile now. I now only drink elderflower cordial by Bottle Bottlegreen as it has nothing artificial in it.

Was so scunnered when Fentimans and San Pellegrino changed their recipes away from sugar. We only have sugary drinks very occasionally as a treat and these were both quality brands with decent ingredients which tasted nice. Both are firmly off my shopping list now.

Lets hope Fevertree and Rocks hold the line. Some of the Polish cordials in Tesco are artificial sweetener free too. I do make my own cordials with berries and sugar sometimes which are nice and a good substitute for the abomination which is Ribena with sweeteners.

Bloomin' nanny state!

Marks and Spencer’s have nice cordials without sweetener, including a blackcurrant one. I like the lemon and Mexican lime one as well. They come in small bottles and obviously, being M&S they are not cheap, but worth it imo.

Waitrose also do an own brand tonic water without sweeteners that is much cheaper than Fevertree.

Some Asda high juice is sweetener free although it's hard to find and you have to look carefully at the bottles because it's all in the small print and most has sweeteners in. I can't see the blackcurrant one on the website, but the apple and mango flavour is one out of 8 different flavours that is OK

https://www.asda.com/groceries/product/barley-water-high-juice/asda-50-fruit-high-juice-apple-mango-1-litre/6366589

The whole situation is bonkers and infuriating. Do the people who make the other 99% of soft drinks have no taste buds?

has anyone found a cranberry juice without artificial sweeteners? i’ve been unable to and i miss it.

i had to drink whisky in the pub a few weeks ago as i couldn’t find a mixer that wouldn’t give me the runs to have with my Bacardi. As an adult in a pub i feel i should be allowed to choose!

The thing that annoyed me most is pepsi. i loved it. I had
a can a day. one day i got the runs. I thought the pepsi tasted a bit weird. but no surely not as theyd advertise a change in ingredients- wrong.
The small print in back listed artificial sweeteners in full fat pepsi. Im gutted. I can no longer drink it.
coke is ok but to be so limited in choices especially when out and about in pepsi only places sucks. i can get a meal in burger king as there’s somwthimg yp wirh thwir full fat coke. sometimes im ok in mcdonald’s but sometimes not. Ive no idea why. Presumably sometimes they serve me diet coke by mistake. Great. Shits tomorrow it is then…

It reminds me of when i was vegetarian 30 years ago and a friend said i should be grateful the restaurant we were in had one veggie choice on the menu. i explained i didnt particularly like it and how would she feel if there was just one choice for her (meat eater) of sausage casserole (which she hates) not so funny for you now is it…

honestly im sick of it just being about votes and profits.

Nope. It's in zero percent Gordon's gin.

It's also an issue for diabetic people who need some sugar when they're having a hypo. My friend was nearly caught out with this nonsense.

One of the really big problems with any ‘rules’ is that stevia is not counted as an artificial sweetener. So if you need to avoid that, you can’t trust anything except an actual ingredients list.

https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/biona-organic-pure-cranberry-juice-750ml-6100005928?skuid=069365&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=pmax&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21054854075&gbraid=0AAAAAD96OoKs7NLlVhH9bwSrCIk4FDrpz&gclid=Cj0KCQiApfjKBhC0ARIsAMiR_Ivik2wCI_lES4Mth_4VsbHDuHescvwOuJlMxn-aWKZwlPdErNkUM_0aAtPaEALw_wcB

This cranberry juice doesnt have anything added so you can add water and sugar or honey to make it taste similar to Ocean Spray etc or I like it with fizzy water.

oh that’s great thanks so much!

i can have my morning cranberry drink with my toast again!

Thanks for the cranberry tip - I'd kind of given up with being able to drink cranberry juice....

YANBU I can't tolerate any sweetners at all (they taste disgusting, make me sick and give me an instant headache) and it drives me mad that they are in so many drinks and even food now.