Diet Pepsi Gets Rid of Aspartame…But Do Consumers Care?
I'm a diet soda freak. I admit it. I can't even drink 'regular' pop anymore because I've had so much of the diet version. My go to diet soda is Diet Mt. Dew. I'm not a coffee drinker so that's where I get my caffeine infusion in the morning. But the downside to diet sodas are the artificial sweeteners used. Chemicals like aspartame. The folks at Pepsi decided to get rid of aspartame in Diet Pepsi and the results, to say the least, have been mixed.
First of all, people don't like change. Leave what I love alone! You don't have to look any farther back than the 'New Coke' disaster. Coca Cola learned the hard way not to mess with what the public already loved. Diet Pepsi switched from using aspartame to Splenda to sweeten their soda. While both aren't great for the body in large amounts, aspartame by far has the uglier reputation among consumers right now. But many Diet Pepsi fans simply don't care. Their favorite product tastes different and they're not happy! Search twitter for 'Diet Pepsi' and you'll see what we mean. But shouldn't we be happy that a company is trying to make their product less harmful? Yes and no.
Diet Pepsi is still made with an artificial sweetener. If you drink a lot of it, as most diet soda drinkers do, it can still have a negative affect on your body. Also, diet soda consumption is falling across the board in the U.S. Was this all just a marketing ploy to make their diet soda look more 'healthy'? Possibly. However, sales figures for the new Diet Pepsi have not picked up since the roll out in September.
The bottom line? Maybe we should all just stop drinking diet soda. We'd be healthier for it. But it's a tough battle. How tough? I just typed this whole blog while drinking my Diet Dew. It's a long road.