Diet soda without Aspartame?

[Phal Gus]

Which Diet soda's don't contain Aspartame, and do contain Splenda? Any ideas?

Thanks

[Elisa Davis]

All fountain soda is without Aspartame (as a start for you), even those diet sodas that contain it in bottles and can form. Splenda has a web site and lists drinks containing their products; I see Diet Rite sodas (products of the Royal Crown Company) are listed there.

Link: http://www.splenda.com

[Jane]

Diet Rite also has some new flavors. I just bought some Tangerine and some Peach soda, but I haven't tried them yet. I'll let you know how they are...

[Phal Gus]

It seems to me Diet Rite isn't always easy to find. Which grocery chain seems to have the best selection? Also is Diet Rite Canadian?

Thanks everyone.

[Jane]

Unfortunately, I'm in Northern California so I can't help you with finding Diet Rite locally. Small gourmet grocery stores seem to carry a decent selection up here. Good luck.

[Curious]

- All fountain soda is without Aspartame -

Even Diet Coke? Do you have any reference for this?

[Elisa Davis]

Yes, aspartame is very unstable once wet and quickly loses its sweetness. Bottles and cans have a fast enough turnover that it isn't an issue, but fountain syrup can take a long time between the time it's produced and when it's consumed.

I worked at the Pepsi-Cola Company during the time that aspartame was first approved by the FDA, my work was in the fountain business in particular.

My guess is you can find out more from the Coca-Cola website if you don't want to take my word for it.

[Caitlin McGrath]

The statement from the Coca Cola web site contradicts what you originlly said, though; fountain Diet Coke has a blend of aspartame and saccharin. So someone who is avoiding aspartams should not assume that it isn't present in fountain sodas.

[Elisa Davis]

I just had to go re-read it...and I think they are just hedging their bets (in case some aspartame creeps into the mix and someone is has PKU problems). Aspartame is a bad bet in the sort of storage conditions that are normal for fountain syrup.

BTW, the soda companies are just as happy to use saccharine instead of aspartame, as the price differential is enormous.

[Curious]

You seem to be asserting again that there's no aspartame in fountain Diet Coke when your own reference contradicts you. Do you have any new references?

[Jane]

I have a Diet Coke can in my hand right now. Aspartame is the third ingredient listed:

Carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate (to protect taste), natural flavors, citric acid, caffeine.

[Pea]

Jane, if you are addressing Curious' post, the issue is with *fountain* diet sodas, not canned.

[Elisa Davis]

Yes, canned Diet Coke (and canned most diet sodas) contain aspartame. It's *fountain* diet soda that doesn't, although apparently the Coca Cola company says there may be some in some of their fountain syrup although I can't see why they'd bother as it loses its sweetness by the time it reaches the consumer in almost all instances.

(Fountain soda is the stuff you get at restaurants and fast food places that doesn't come out of a can or a bottle but is a mixture of syrup and carbonated water, mixed right there at the place it's served)

[Elisa Davis]

Yes, I just said I reread it and it's true that there may be some aspartame in it.

Is there some reason you're so unpleasant?

[aspartanot]

You wrote that you, " worked at the Pepsi-Cola Company during the time that aspartame was first approved by the FDA, (and your) work was in the fountain business in particular. " and yet you seem extremely confused about the very product you represented. What exactly did you do at Pepsi? You may not like being questioned but you have made statements of fact here on this board regarding all fountain diet sodas, not just Pepsi. And yet you keep posting statements that contradict your own assertions.

[Elisa]

you know, I wrote that, was questioned, and bothered to do the research to answer the query. and then I admitted I was wrong. what exactly are you asking me to do now?

if you're allergic to aspartame, do your own research. you should do that anyway.

I'm out of this thread.

(and I worked in finance in the food service division at Pepsi, the decision to use aspartame was a HUGE issue as there were both product stability problems and high costs involved...and none of these issues has changed in the intervening years; despite the fact that aspartame sweetened beverages are almost universally considered to be superior tasting to those sweetened with saccharine, most--I thought all, but I learned differently from Coke--fountain soda continues to be sweetened with saccharine. Perhaps Splenda will prove to be more stable as a sweetener and the economics or market forces will change diet soda formulations. Meanwhile, people who are aspartame sensitive should be doing their own research directly from manufacturers. I mean, why even believe the quotation I said is a quotation? Go to the Coca Cola site yourself, it's way fun to navigate through the multiple pop up java windows that provide no useful product ingredient information.)

[hmmmmm]

And yet you don't know if the product contains aspartame? Hmmm....something fishy here.

[Lord Lipitor]

FWIW, I lost about thirty pounds in part thanks to Aspartame. It is the sweetener in a milk shake powder produced by Health Management Resources (HMR), recommended by my doctor (who used it himself) and chosen by many hospitals (including Cedars, I think) for their weight loss programs. I never had the slightest problem with the Aspartame and, after doing some research, am starting to think that the numbers who are allergic to it may not be so great after all. Of course there are those who oppose chemicals in any form. Can't say as I blame them (just as long as they let me alone)

[vn]

aspartame has some specific warnings required in its product labeling by the powers that be. yes, the numbers are small, but if you're one of those individuals, it's very important. pls don't doubt that there are real health issues here that have been shown in the clinic just because you're not affected.

[Curious]

I'm not being unpleasant; I'm just trying to figure out if I can drink Diet Coke from a fountain. (Aspartame gives me headaches.)

And your post said that the Coca-Cola website shouldn't be believed since you say they are just "hedging their bets" as any aspartame in the fountain drinks would be due to accidental contamination.

[jnpearson]

I'm allergic to aspartame but not sucralose. I have always reacted to fountain diet coke the exact same way that I react to canned diet coke.

[Elisa Davis]

This is from the Coca-Cola website (easily the most annoying website I've ever visited--worse than porn sites you stumble over but didn't mean to visit LOL):

"Because aspartame by itself is heat and pH sensitive (meaning it loses its sweetness over time), the concentrated fountain syrup causes aspartame to lose its sweetness faster than it would in a finished beverage. Fountain diet drinks, therefore, are sweetened with a blend of aspartame and saccharin to assure maximum product quality."

[wow i'm a dog]

I can't have anything with aspartame in it myself. This isn't diet soda, but maybe you'll find this a good alternative: The Switch. It's 100% carbonated fruit juice without any corn syrup, added sugar, etc. I really enjoy the apricot peach. The drinks are a little hard to find (I tried it at a volleyball event) and their locator online didn't help me much, but maybe they ship? I've emailed them to find out. I do know that they have it at Mongolian BBQ in Manhattan Beach.

Link: http://www.switchbev.com/index2.html

[Slow Foodie]

I will bring this discussion to a (relatively) local realm. I have found the most delicious diet drink containing Splenda. I haven't checked for Aspartame but I suspect it doesn't have it. The brand is ICE BOTANICALS made by the Talking Rain Company. They come out of Portlnd Oregon and are available (not always, sadly) locally only at Costo. They make a very lightly carbonated and a non-carbonated variety.

Link: http://www.talkingrain.com

[oli]

I don't know exactly if there's any Aspartame in it, but it's sweetened with Splenda, and tastes great.. It's the Diet Hansen. I buy them in bulk from Costco. They have amazing flavors, like Ginger, Strawberry Kiwi, Tangerine, etc. If I remember correctly it says something like "all natural" too. I remember they use natural, not artificial flavoring. So maybe you can give it a try. ;) Hope this helps.

[noaspratame]

yes i wouldnt drink anything with aspratame in it either if you read any books on it it causes brain cancer and a load of other problems for the body look for the book excitotoxins that kill do a search you will see monsanto who produces it is in for alot of lawsuits down the road micheal j fox was a spokesman for diet soda and look at him now

[ironmom]

All the accusations against aspartame are essentially unsubstantiated.

[EWSflash]

Thanks for saying that, its unpopular but it's fact.

[skamama]

As someone who had ringing in my ears and lightheadedness from aspartame, I must dispute your assertions. Also, my diabetic mother was consuming a number of aspartame products and began to have neurological symptoms which even led her physician to think she might have had a brain tumor. My sister, now a physician assistant after a 25-year career as a registered nurse, asked how much aspartame she was using and advised her to try eliminating it from her diet. Within days and weeks the symptoms were gone. So don't assume there is nothing to it. Within 7-10 minutes of accidently consuming an aspartame-sweetened diet drink, I know what has happened because I start feeling weird and disoriented.
I use Hansen's diet sodas in the summer and so does my mother. I am also beginning to see some xylitol and erythritol-sweetened products in the marketplace and hope to see more.

[ferret]

Xylitol in soda??? Count me out. Far more people have bad reactions to sugar alcohols than aspartame.

[norjah]

Most of the Diet Rite sodas do not contain aspartame and use splenda. I'm not sure if this is true for all their flavors, but they advertise this fact on the front of the can. Their diet peach soda is quite yummy.

[torta basilica]

Not really a soda, but diet Snapples use sucralose for sweetner.

[CaliGirl143]

I think you misread the label, or have a different diet snapple then me because I have one right here that says aspartame on the ingredient lable. I hate it, it is in EVERYTHING!!!!! I like drinking stuff other then water, but not w/all the sugar calories... So frustrating to try and not consume any aspartame, because it is in almost anything sugar free! I had to debate at the store to get the 170 calorie chocolate pudding w/out the sweetner or the 35 calorie sugar free. Gain weight or risk possible brain cancer? You may think its an easy answer, but it wasn't for me. Why aren't there law suits of people with brain cancer from the sweetner that has been around for over 20 yrs? It is in so many products,. if it is as bad as these websites claim I would imagine law suits would be filed.. And even if the FDA testing was faulty, years later with more research etc. that is has been determined to be unsafe why can't they take it off the market., or why can't they use another sweenter in everything, why don't they use more splenda or stevia? ok ur answer is $$$ . well what else do we regularly consume that is so toxic

[PamB]

Hello from Pam in Oregon..Please can anyone help me find any diet drinks with no aspartame in it i found out half of my health probs from it and i cant have frutose also and with IBS hard to find anything to help me i tried diet rite yuk yuk lol..I need some help in the west not a easy find i have read all of this page alot of good answears about aspartame..I will keep looking and nice to see a good site like this hope i meet people from all over..Have a good day or nite...

[westsidegal]

i'd contact the hansen's soda folks and find out where their stuff is sold in oregon.
in particular, i recommend their diet cherry flavor.

[mattwarner]

I don't know where in Oregon you are, but if there's a Winco Foods near you, they carry Hansen's.

[DrBruin]

Diet Coca-Cola (Coke)with Splenda, for example.

[Jberry2010]

Fountaiin coke diet drinks contain aspartame, it is listed on the incredient list on the Coke web site.

[jumpingmonk]

Vigil's diet sodas tend to be sweetened with stevia. At least I know the cola is (never really looked at the other flavors)

[CrazyOne]

Ran across this Zevia in a store today: http://www.zevia.com/ Did not try, though, because they were over $6 for a 6-pack. Sweetened with Stevia and Erythritol.

[buttertart]

I tried their root beer. Somewhat weird but in a sort of good way (the stevia note goes reasonably well with root beer flavors).

[chimp999]

Wikipedia lists all aspartame & non-aspartame diet sodas in a nice chart at the end of the page on this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_soda

[tickmouse]

Zevia, awesome sugar free pop, well worth the price to have a natural sweetener. I really like the Black Cherry, and the Rootbeer flavours

[lucyis]

Pepsi One is made with Splenda and it is a good alternative to Diet Coke. It is, however, not as widely available as other diet sodas.

[gm28524]

When I drink diet drinks (which is the only kind I drink) my ears ring terribly. Is this a reaction to the Aspartame or the phenylalanine? Anybody else have this problem? Thanks! Gail

[twj]

I haven't read through all the responses but I buy diet Hansen's soda in their "Original Cola" flavor from Trader Joe's (north suburbs of Chicago). It's the tastiest I've ever had and I am a diet soda fiend.

ETA: Hansen's uses sucralose instead of aspartame for their diet sodas.

[Snozzberry]

I know Shasta's Diet sodas are Splenda sweetened. They're my favorites when It comes to diet sodas (best diet strawberry there is).

[Danie Huizenga]

Yes, Diet Rite (made by the same company that makes Dr. Pepper and is the oldest soda company) is the only soda to my knowledge that uses Splenda....and it is DELICIOUS. Also, re: powedered iced tea, lemonade etc., the 4-C company is the only one that uses Splenda.