Any good sodas out there with no corn syrup??

[thunderbug84]

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm addicted to pop. More specifically, Coke. I have been working to weed all high fructose corn syrup out of my diet, but I’m coming to a road block when it comes to Coke. I can’t drink diets (cant deal with the taste or headaches) and I have tried alternatives like Whole Foods brand Cola (I didn’t like the taste).

So I'm asking, well begging, if anyone knows of a great tasting Cola that does not contain corn syrup. I know that it would be simpler to just cut pop out of my diet, but let a girl indulge! I would be forever indebted if someone can point me in the right direction. Thanks!

[ipsedixit]

Not sure where you are, but if you can, try Wild Oats Natural Soda.

No HFCS.
No Caffeine.
No artificial flavors.

www.wildoats.com

[raf945]

I too,like the original Coke but recently enjoyed the Coke Zero.One other thing,being forty five minutes from Ocean Spray Cranberry processors in Plymouth,Massachusetts,I I had faith in their products until I found out they add high frucose corn syrup to their juices.Never again.

[Katie Nell]

I had a G.U.P. (Grown Up Soda) at Dean and Deluca that was very good, I think it was the ruby red grapefruit one. http://www.drinkgus.com/ I think Coke is too hard to overcome though!

[Loren3]

Drink Coke.

But buy it at a Mexican import grocery, or at a Jewish grocery at Passover. It's made with real sugar instead of HFCS. Read the label, tho. Some Mexican bottlers are shifting their "export" Coke to HFCS because it's cheaper. And as long as you're going to the Mexican grocer anyway, check out the Jarritos sodas from Mexico. No HFCS; only sugar. They do use artificial flavors, though.

Also, if you can live without the carbonation, Nantucket Nectars uses only cane sugar and fruit juices for sweeteners, never HFCS.

[thunderbug84]

Thank you Loren3! I went to Mexico a few times when I was younger and I couldnt figure out why the Coke tasted so much better down there. I always thought it was the glass bottle! I'll definitly try to find a Mexican grocer! Thanks again!

[rworange]

Also during the Jewish holidays there is Kosher coke that is made with real sugar.

I don't like artificial sweeteners either. Maybe this isn't a solution, but I was able to switch to flavored carbonated water with lemon or lime like Calistoga ... no sugar at all. For me, though, it was about the fizz, so I am happy with these.

[heathermb]

I drink very little Coke, but make a point to stock up during Passover and that's all I drink during the year. I can't stand the HFCS version.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Why not just buy Mexican Cokes with sugar? They sell them all over Boston, and you get to drink your Cokes in single-serve glass bottles as nature intended instead of those awful 2-liter jugs.

[Foureyes137]

Sad but true; Mexican Coke is now made with corn syrup as far as I can tell. We shop at Mercado Central in MPLS and a couple other C.A. specialty markets, and all that we can find now is high fructosed garbage.

Cane sugar tastes so much better to me in Coca-Cola, but the U.S. uses corn and Mexico uses sugar cane. Read more at the attached story:

http://www.geocities.com/jonclark500/...

Thanks NAFTA.

[Judith]

I have a bottle of Mexican coke in the fridge. It's great for migraines. I get it at the local mom and pop store in my neighborhood in northern California. I bought this bottle within the last two months. Sugar only. No corn syrup.

[Foureyes137]

Lucky you! I wish we could still get it here. On the bright side we;ve had it served to us in restaurants, but these are bottles that are quite old. Still good though!

[Candy]

I was lucky to be walking down the imports aisle in my local Kroger (Bloomington, IN) and there in the Mexican section was the "Real Thing". Coke from Mexico made with sugar. I bought one to share with my DH and let the rest of the people in my dining group know about it. I told them to complain loudly if there wasn't any more. I haven't been in today to see if they have restocked. We split our bottle and my DH remarked it has been a long time since he had a Coke.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

I just this afternoon had a Mexican Coke here in Boston that quite specifically listed sugar, not HFCS, as its sweetener.

[pitu]

I'd love to cut out corn syrup as much as possible too. Love the Mexican Coca-cola with cane sugar, with a bonus for coming in a small glass bottle.

Also partial to Boylans black cherry soda, and Virgils Root Beer (very wintergreeny, not for everyone...)

[CDouglas]

Try Boylan's Cane Cola as an alternative. The entire Boylan's line is great - no HFCS and everything comes in a glass bottle.

Carver's ginger ale is a great cola alternative. Pure cane sugar, glass bottles and no HFCS.

[MPH]

I love Boylan's cane cola and black cherry soda, which are sweetened with sugar. But some of Boylan's products, such as their root beer and creme soda, do list "sugar and/or corn syrup" on their ingredient lists.

[CDouglas]

Are you seeing that on the bottles? On their website not one of their products has corn syrup listed as an ingredient. Guess I need to order a sampler case and find out for myself.

[MPH]

Thank you for pointing out that Boylan’s “Natural” root beer, etc., is made with just sugar while their unnatural (not trademarked) root beer may contain corn syrup.

I recalled seeing corn syrup on bottles of root beer and creme soda, then double-checked the ingredients online:

http://www.popsoda.com/boyrootbeer.html

http://www.popsoda.com/boybotcremso.html

However, Boylan’s Natural root beer does not list corn syrup as a possible ingredient:

http://www.amazon.com/Boylans-Natural...

There’s a Boylan’s Natural creme vanilla soda, too.

[CDouglas]

Not just the "Natural" versions but all versions do not have corn syrup listed as an ingredient anywhere on Boylan's website: http://www.boylanbottling.com/

I am going to go with them before popsoda.com.

[MPH]

Fair enough. For what it's worth, though, I have seen "sugar and/or corn syrup" listed on bottles of Boylan's not-natural root beer and creme soda that were purchased from sodapop.com within the last six months.

[angelo04]

I'm with 55. Be careful, not all of Boylan's line is HFCS. For a full line of HFCS free soda try http://www.foxonpark.com If you are in the Connecticut area, I think they are readily available. They ship too but that gets pricey but it is well worth it.

[writergirl]

I haven't actually tried this (I have no desire to give up my diet coke habit), but I've heard good things about Cricket Cola. It has green tea and cola which sounds icky to me, but others have said it's really good. No HFCS, they also have a diet version that uses Splenda.

[Chowpatty]

The diet version was one of the foulest things I have ever tasted, FYI.

[suse]

Yup, Mexican grocery store is the way to go, if you can find one nearby. That's what we do. And I do think Coke tastes better out of glass bottles. Seriously.

[mclaugh]

To reiterate Loren3's caveat: CAVEAT EMPTOR.

Don't assume that it's sweetened with sugar simply because it's in a glass bottle and is imported from Mexico. READ THE LABEL.

Most of the multinational bottlers with operations in Mexico (Coke, Pepsi, 7-UP, etc.) are starting to use HFCS in bottles intended for export. I spent (wasted) an entire afternoon checking at the label on every last bottle of Coke and Pepsi at a Mexican grocery a couple of weeks ago, all of which were imported from Mexico, and every darned one listed HCFS as the sweetener. >:-(

[anniemax]

At least it was properly labeled- I'm very allergic to corn & corn derivatives, so I occasionally indulge in a Mexican soda. Well, I did until a recent bottle almost landed me in the ER- thankfully I was able to treat the reaction at home, per my allergist recommendations. I'm pretty sure it was a Jarritos soda, but I would have to check to make sure.

[b0ardkn0t]

You can taste the difference in HFCS vs. sugar cane. I've tasted both the Mexican Coke and Jarritos sodas, and you can tell when it is sugar cane. If it was Jarritos you would have noticed the sweetness of the sugar as you drank (same goes for the Coke). Flavor is mild or lost when they use HCFS. Also there may be different bottlers from Mexico that use HCFS and some that still use sugar, like mclaugh said before, check the labels.

[ipsedixit]

Speaking of Mexican Coke, is the caffeine content higher in them (as well as using real sugar)?

When I was in Mexico City a while back I got an incredible caffeine buzz from one little old Coke.

[pitu]

might it have been the altitude in D.F.?

[BellaDonna]

Congratulations on trying to eliminate HFCS out of your diet. I tried this 6 months ago. I craved less without the HFCS (big theory behind that). I like the Whole Foods brand soda, especially the cola and root beer. There are some other brands at Whole Foods but they are expensive ($4/6-pk).

There is a brand called Hansen's available at Krogers and other grocery stores. It's $3/6 pack.

Good luck.

[n10odles]

It seems like Hansen's has stopped putting high fructose corn syrup in most of drinks. I now see Sucrose in the ingredients? Is that really any better?

[writergirl]

Hansen's has HFCS, they like to claim they have no "refined sugar." Yeah, because HFCS is better. From their website:

Vanilla Cola Natural Soda

Contains:
Pure triple filtered carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, citric acid, tartaric acid, natural cola flavors, natural vanilla extract.

[revsharkie]

If you are a dr pepper drinker you can get "dublin dr pepper" that is still made from the original recipe with sugar. Google "dublin dr pepper" and you'll get a website. One caveat: it ain't cheap.

[Bluezman]

IBC from WallMart or Sam's Club is made with sugar. So far Rootbeer, Cream, Black Cherry, and Cherry Cola are the only flavers I've seen.

[mariannas]

The IBC I picked up (the cream soda variety) most definitely had HFCS listed.

[kkak97]

Jones uses pure cane sugar- no high fructose crap.

http://www.jonessoda.com/

[Vexorg]

Check the labels on these. It looks like they may be transitioning to cane sugar, but the bottles of Jones root beer I have in the fridge (purchased last Summer) contain HFCS. As for Boylan's, it should be labelled pretty clearly as having cane sugar (I bought some of the grape soda last night, and cane sugar is priminently featured on the front of the bottle..)

[spellweaver16]

The ones with sugar say Pure Cane Soda on them. I adore the kiwi.

[ML8000]

Adding to the list: the French Market Lemonade (you can get it at Trader Joe's) uses sugar.

[GeoffD]

Blenheim Ginger Ale. It comes in 3 different heat levels. Even the mildest has quite the ginger bite. All made with real sugar, not corn sweetener. They also have a diet version that doesn't taste diet. I've ordered it by the case direct from the bottler in South Carolina. It makes the best sailor's rum drink ever.... the Dark 'n Stormy. 800-270-9344

[f_diva]

China cola is a great coke alternative. A really interesting cola beverage! Try finding it in health food stores.

[Snackish]

HFCS is pretty much the same chemical composition as table sugar. I don't understand why everyone is so freaked out about it.

[angelo04]

I also think, nutrition aside, HFCS makes soda way too sweet. Sugar cane sodas taste better aren't overwhelmingly sweet

[Gnu23]

It's a very complicated issue. It's about taste and choice and having the power as consumers to be able to make informed decisions about the things we eat and how they effect our health.

HFCS is not a natural product. It came out of the Post-War American mentality of “Better Living Through Chemistry.” Sugar, or sucrose, made from evaporating juice has been around for thousands of years.

Two very good places to start if anybody wants to know more about the differences are the Wikipedia entries for HFCS and Sugar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HFCS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar

Read the description of how HFCS is made. It’s like something a mad scientist would think up.

[Caroline1]

Well, chances are anyone who is allergic to corn will be very allergic to high fructose CORN syrup! And even plain old Karo, which is simply corn syrup. Many people have mild corn allergies that don't bother them with corn on the cob or even corn oil or margarine, but the HFCS will tackle them. I have never heard of anyone who is allergic to sugar cane, which doesn't mean it can't happen. My guess is it's a lot rarer than an HFCS allergy.

[BellaDonna]

HFCS is metabolized differently and has different effects on the body.

[Snackish]

People say that, usually because of Greg Critser's book "Fatland." But in the book he confuses HFCS with fructose. I read the studies he cited in his book and spoke to some of the study authors, and even they said information about fructose can't be extrapolated to HFCS.

Here is some more information - it is from the Corn Refiner's Assn so obviously they have a huge bias, but they also cite some reputable studies: http://www.hfcsfacts.com/bodyprocess....

[amyzan]

Snackish, I thought HFCS has a higher proportion of fructose to glucose, making it a little different from cane sugar, which is roughly equal proportions? Why else do they call it "high fructose corn syrup?" So confused...

[Snackish]

There are a couple different formulations. I don't know if it is possible to find out from the labeling which is which.

My main point is that most of the articles in the news were written using that one book, which confuses fructose with HFCS, which is patently not true.

Personally, I don't have a dog in the fight because I don't drink soda and try to avoid eating a lot of low-end baked and snack foods that are the items in question.

[amyzan]

If you're talking about the differences between cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup, the source is likely part of the issue as well, Snackish. Many feel cane has a different "mouth feel," and dare I say it? Cane tastes better--clean, sweet, no aftertaste.

For me, I'm sensitive to processed corn products, which are everywhere. HFCS gives me headaches and asthma. I wish there were more sodas made with cane.

[BellaDonna]

All soft drinks use to be made with real sugar. Then all of the companies wanted to make sodas cheaper so they use HFCS instead.

[andlulu]

The Switch -
no sugar added - no corn syrup - no preservatives.

I've purchased this soda at Wild Oats - Greenlife and other gourmet markets.

I always get black cherry.

http://www.switchbev.com/

[Uncle Ira]

I'd like to try this.... Anyone know where you can get The Switch in the Twin Cities?? The website just seems to give wholesale info...

Uncle Ira

[soupkitten]

Uncle Ira you can get the switch at all of the local food co-ops. i second black cherry as the best flavor but the orange and grape flavors are great too. they come in a wee little can so it's easy to drink more than one :)

[melvita]

there's a great drink called IZEE, usually found at Starbucks. Most of the flavors do not have any corn syrup or preservatives. For example the pomegranate only has pomegranate and sparkling water. they are really tasty and are way healthier than a coke.

[Foureyes137]

Reed's Ginger Beer.

I'm hooked on the stuff. (Which is unfortunate as it's $1 a bottle at the market and Coop.)

Reed's uses honey as a sweetener. Sprecher uses honey in most of their soda-pop as well.

[Steve]

Blue Sky Cola is excellent. Available at food co-ops, health food stores, and many other locales.

[kallis33]

Unfortunately, some varieties of Blue Sky Cola do contain that HFCS crap. I was going to purchase some since I love their HFCS-free sports drink as an alternative to Gatorade. I checked their website http://drinkbluesky.com/ and the HFCS-free soda are in their Real Sugar line and also their Organic line. Look before you purchase!

Long live Dublin Dr. Pepper! I actually ask for a case or two of that for my birthday.

[Elizzie]

I think Boylan's makes a cane sugar cola that I've gotten at Trader Joe's.

[HLing]

Just had Red Rock, the Atlanta made Ginger Ale for the first time this past week. Made with cane sugar, no syrup. Clean, crisp and SPICY!

Hope it's available outside of Atlanta....

[gensky]

I'm addicted to coke (the drink) but don't like the idea of fructose being used instead of sugar. How much more expensive could it be to use sugar.

Here' something to think about...Classic Cke says it is the original formula. How can that be since the original formula must have used sugar?

[chazzer]

Dr. Pepper from the Dublin Texas Bottler is made with real cane sugar. They do ship.

[Karl S]

As noted above, Coca-Cola makes Coke that is Kosher for Passover, which means it cannot have grain-based sugar in it like corn syrup. It usually becomes available after Purim, 3-4 weeks before Passover, and is marked with a special cap (it was green colored in the past, IIRC) noting it is Kosher for Passover. In the Boston area, and I would imagine in any large urban area with a large Jewish population, it's available in most supermarkets.

But you have to act fast because people wipe it out. For reasons you may understand.

[mi2ca2mi]

Goose Island Root Beer is made with sugar, not HFCS. Very tasty. I find it at Costco.

[milkmaid]

Diet Coke sweetened with Splenda sounds like an option. The sweetening agent is marketed as calorie free. Splenda is made from sugar, but properties are taken out to make it calorie free. I don't know what the calorie removal process is.

[spellweaver16]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucralose

[chloe103]

Not sure if you're still checking this (I just noticed that the thread is rather old), but since Passover is coming up soon, you might want to stock up on Coke in the next week. (Passover begins April 2nd, so you've got a ten day window, more or less). Coke that is labelled "Kosher for Passover" cannot contain HFCS, and will be made with sugar. Large chain grocery stores, especially ones in neighbourhoods with a substantial Jewish population, should have it available by the case right now.

[yakijy]

After giving up looking for American-made soda pop with cane sugar, I accidently stumbled on a bottle of 'Jarilitos' Mexican soda pop at a gas station. Since then I made my way to the nearest 'Ranch Market' in Phoenix and found 2 liter bottles of Mexican pop for about $1.25, in unsual but good flavors, like Sangria, Tamarind, apple, as well as grapefruit, lemon-lime, strawberry - didn't see cola though.

[justagthing]

If you live near the Canadian border, they also have Coke without the HFCS.

[DonShirer]

Foxon Park colas are made with real sugar. Unfortunately, you'll probably have to come to Connecticut to find it.

[chefbec]

I'm just looking at my can of Canadian Coca Cola and the second ingredient is Sugar. According to Wikipedia only the US uses High Fructose Corn Syrup. So depending on your geographic location you can try and get some Coke from Canada.

[itsrob]

What's fascinating is that Coke and Pepsi haven't figured out a way to make a little extra money by selling us some "all-natural" or "special" coke with cane sugar. I suppose it would be awkward to have to admit that HFCS wasn't as good as cane sugar, but its not as if anyone who's paying attention has any illusions about what's going on - HFCS is totally unnatural, but cheaper. We get it. Now give me the option to pay for the good stuff. As it is I'm running around tiny mexican markets looking for the stuff and drinking less soda overall. Seems like I'm not the only one, given the responses here.

I didn't like Whole Foods cola as much because I want the caffeine - something about decaf cola (including WF) doesn't have the same bite.

[tearly]

You can order online: www.popsoda.com
They have over 150 different types of soda's. Never mind the flavored waters, tea's, etc...
Great place here in Arizona that I go to all the time!

[bart4u]

You can find any soda made with real sugar here and you can have it shipped to you if you don't live in Los Angeles. There store is only for soda.

http://www.sodapopstop.com/home.cfm

[Sean]

Stirrings Ginger Ale http://www.stirrings.com/sodasgingera...

[WILLOBIE]

Germans love their "limo" and the French love their Orangina and Italians love their citrus flavored San Pellagrino, but our versions have HFCS. They are not egregiously sweet and the Germans even mix their limo with beer. The solution is to make your own with fruit syrups and add seltzer water. Take the juice of a lemon, lime or a couple of oranges, stir it with a tsp of cane sugar, add a couple of ice cubes, add seltzer, and stir. The seltzer gives you the "burn" you love and the fruit juices make better soft drinks than you could ever buy. Just adjust the amount of juice and sugar to your taste.

There are also fruit syrups you can buy in places like Dean and DeLucca. Just make sure they are made with sugar and not HFCS. Europeans have been making their own "pop" from seltzer and these good syrups for generations. If you're making you own syrup from fruit juice, combine it 2 pts juice to 1 sugar by weight and boil briefly to dissolve. Refrigerate.

If there is interest, I can tell you how to easily juice fruit like red currants and raspberries. Straight cranberry juice is also available if you look hard enough. Not the diluted cocktail stuff, but full strength, unsweetened cranberry juice. It makes an awesome pop when made into a syrup and diluted with seltzer water. Don't use club soda because it contains, guess what? -- sodium bicarb.

No solution for Coke, though.

[danishcheez]

Try Sprecher Sodas. Unless you are in Wisconsin or Eastern Iowa, you will probably have to order online: sprecherbrewery.com. Most of their sodas are made with raw honey and vanilla as the sweeteners. My favorites are the Cream Soda and the Root Beer, but the Puma Cola is hands down the best "plain cola" drink I've ever had. The only drawback - all the sodas come in only 16 oz. sizes which is usually too much for me at a time.

[soupkitten]

these are delicious. especially if you can find the root beer kegged, on tap somewhere. awesome.

[CindyJ]

Not cola, but a nice variety of fruit-flavored sodas, Fizzy Lizzy sodas use nothing artificial, no corn syrup, no preservatives. http://www.fizzylizzy.com

[lgss]

I haven't tried it, but some of the Blue Sky soda has real sugar, no corn syrup. I've seen it at health food stores.

[kimeats]

try tommy's naked soda tommysnakedsoda.com

no hfcs and tasty

[vvvindaloo]

Fentiman's Curiosity Cola is delicious, and I've bought it on several occasions when the thought of Coke with HFCS in a plastic bottle was just too irritating. CC does not taste like Coca Cola (nothing does), but it is very very good.

[weinstein5]

Passover is approaching so you should be able to get Kosher for Passover Coca Cola at stores that are carrying a good supply of kosher products - should be by the kosher for passover foods - usually has a different colored cap -

[Sean]

This has probably been mentioned here already, but GUS (Grown up Soda) is very good. Not only do they use cane sugar but they use less sugar so the soda's are not as sweet as most commercial brands. So far I have had the Dry Cola (with real Coca nut extract), the Myer Lemon (with real juice) and the Dry Ginger Ale (with real ginger extract). The Ginger Ale And Myer Lemon are addictive, a liitle pricey but worth it to me. Most specialty stores and even some large chains like Stop and Shop carry them. I buy them at Whole Foods and Daves Marketplace in the RI area.

http://www.drinkgus.com/

[vvvindaloo]

I adore GUS Meyer Lemon Soda. I am a citrus freak, and you can really savor the lemon flavor in this one.

[Sean]

Me too, I actually drink it in the morning on the way to work rather than drink cofee.