This really isn’t good news.

PepsiCo says it is “very close” to launching a new low calorie drink that tastes great because they’ve come up with a new concoction of sweeteners and flavor modifiers that gets rid of the aftertaste.  The CEO of the company, Indra Nooyi, says that they’ve discovered how to balance the sweeteners so that “one teaspoon of sugar tastes like four.”

I’m sure this is supposed to make us feel better. But really, it doesn’t. Now people will love the taste of the so called “diet” drinks so much, they’ll drink more… which is not a good move. Studies by the Harvard School of Public Health show that sweet tasting soft drinks, even those sweetened with a calorie-free sugar substitute, might stimulate the appetite for other sweet, high carbohydrate foods.

Look, I’m not trying to be holier than thou… I’m a Texan and I like my Diet Dr. Pepper. But diet drinks should be viewed like a nicotine patch: something that should be used to wean you off the harder, full-of-sugar soda pop until you quit jonesing.

The other thing we have to keep in mind is that we don’t know what the long term effects of consuming artificially-sweetened soda are on children… but we do know that some artificial sweeteners can cause cancer and obesity.

Sugar is everywhere and in everything. Food manufacturers need to stop viewing sugar as a necessary ingredient. Thankfully high fructose corn syrup is now taking it on the chops. Hopefully artificial sweeteners, even the so-called “natural” sweeteners, will find a similar fate.

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