In 2007, two new selections of soft drinks were introduced to the beverage market.
Riding on the wave of trendy low-calorie and diet drinks, Diet Pepsi Max and Diet Coke Plus offer yet another alternative to traditional syrup-saturated cola drinks.
Now with the added bonus of some extra vitamins, minerals and healthy-sounding ingredients, could it be soda has finally become nutritional?
According to the Pepsi Web site, Diet Pepsi Max was introduced in June 2007 as a better tasting alternative to Diet Pepsi.
But unlike Pepsi One, which is also known for taste minus the calories, Diet Pepsi Max contains ginseng and extra caffeine.
While the ginseng sounds beneficial, downing a double shot of caffeine (46 mg instead of 24 in regular 8 oz. Diet Pepsi) hardly seems healthy.
While the makers may rightly claim Diet Pepsi Max offers “a boost to keep you going all day,” Pepsi fans may be better off sticking with the original Diet Pepsi if they’re worried about calories or don’t want to brave the unique taste of ginseng.
By comparison, Diet Coke Plus (also known as Coca-Cola Light Plus), gets its boost from vitamin and mineral fortification.
An 8oz. serving of Diet Coke Plus has 15 percent of the daily recommend amount of niacin and vitamins B6 and B12, as well as 10 percent of zinc and magnesium.
Another alternative to a classic Coca-Cola is Coke Zero, which is supposed to be indistinguishable in taste from the original, yet with zero calories.
When Coca-Cola marketing strategists determined the label “diet” had limited Diet Coke’s appeal to mostly women, they decided to advertise Coke Zero as “calorie free” in an effort to target young men.
Coke C2 is another example of how marketing can make or break a product.
Coke C2, which was advertised as having half the carbohydrates, sugars and calories of regular Coca-Cola, died with the low-carb diet and was discontinued in 2007.
Auburn students had varied opinions on the diet sodas.
While some students were not even aware of the new products on the market, junior nutrition and dietetics major Joanna Lim knew “Diet Coke Plus has vitamins and minerals in it unlike regular diet coke; it is still sugarfree, but healthier.”
Rachel Tatum, a senior in communication disorders, didn’t know much about the new drinks, but said she would “definitely try them” as the vitamin and mineral fortifications would make her feel better about drinking soda.
Other students weren’t so keen on soft drinks in general, even if the drinks did contain healthy-sounding additives.
Leonard Bell, a nutrition and food science associate professor, said adding caffeine does not make the product healthier.
“Likewise, people should be obtaining their vitamins from the foods in their diets, not relying on a carbonated beverage,” Bell said.
