Low Sugar Coke and Pepsi Hits the Market
Published June 17, 2004
In an attempt to cater to the maket of people who, like me, love regular soda but not the 140 calories per can, and hate the taste of the zero calorie diet sodas, both Coke and Pepsi have come up with low sugar and low carb varieites of their colas.
I just recently had a chance to try both Coke C2 and Pepsi Edge. Both promise 1/2 the carbs and sugar of the regular cola, but with all the taste.
Both of the sodas do so by combining the standard corn syrup with artifical sweetners such as aspartame (Equal) and sucralose (Splenda).
How are they?
 | Coke C2 looks just like the real thing, with a smooth crisp cola taste. It tastes almost exactly like regular Coke. So much so, in fact, that unless you were told it wasn't regular coke you wouldn't tell the difference. C2 has no noticable aftertaste and goes down smooth. It is somewhat less spritzy then regular coke and might appear to be just a wee bit flat compared to regular Coke, but not much so that it takes away from the taste. |
| Pepsi Edge, on the other hand, seems like it was rushed to market. And it was. Pepsi originally intended to introduce their lower carb version in early July, but was forced to move up release due to the June 11th release of C2.
Edge appears identical to regular Pepsi, but falls flat on taste. The flavor seemed weak, somewhat flat and not sweet enough compared to reglar Pepsi. It also had a much more noticable diet soda flavor than C2, it also had a very lingering aftertaste, like the time I ate a packet of Sweet and Low. |  |
All in all, I would have to say that while Coke did a good job to soda junkies everywhere, Pepsi failed. Again.
If you don't like diet sodas, but are forced to due to calorie restrictions, I suggest you try Coke C2. It has almost 100% of the taste of cola, with half the sugar, and half the carbs.
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- Low Sugar Coke and Pepsi Hits the Market
- Published: June 17, 2004
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- Section: Culture
- Writer: Tom Bux
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Comments on this articleComments
I think there's a definite trend after the publicity about Super Size Me and Fast Food Nation and other junk-food exposes. I saw a commercial for McDonald's Happy Meals where kids can now pick apple slices instead of fries and can choose from healthier drinks like fruit juices. They're also phasing out Supersizing. I don't drink soda and I don't get why people need to put so much of something sugary in their bodies 24/7.
Pepsi rules all, but their diet efforts suck worse than anything. Weird.
Diet Pepsi twist is yummy. Especially when combined with Cialis and an all night "Touched by an Angel" marathon.
Aspartame gives me hellacious headaches, which means I will have to stick to regular Pepsi. I find that when I drink Pepsi and limit the rest of my caloric intake, I still lose weight. Cool.
I tried C2 for the first time this week. Though the sugar content is lower, it is still sugar. In my opinion, the taste is closer to Tab, than to regular cola. But, it is not unpleasant. No aftertaste as with saacharine. My thinking is that diabetics who will not give up sodas might benefit from switching to C2. And, chubby folks could use it as a halfway house on the way to cutting out soft drinks.
Ah! Finally, a guy who admits a relationship with Cialis. You go, Brick.
I find that when I go on the "get off my ass diet/plan" I lose weight.
An oddity in the 'reinvention' of Coca Cola with new products, is that the guy who brought the changes about has been eased out of the company. Some way to say thanks.
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(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/16602)
Assuming you don't mind the horrible side effects of the sugar replacements.
Sucralose
More Sucralose
Aspartame
More Aspartame