New front in cola wars: Pepsi drops aspartame

PepsiCo is removing the sweetener aspartame from Diet Pepsi in a move that puts consumer perceptions ahead of science, observers say.

The number two American soft drink company will instead switch to sucralose, a less controversial but still artificial sweetener. The change is the boldest reformulation in the beverage industry since Coca-Cola Co’s New Coke fiasco in 1985.

It is also in response to consumer surveys showing aspartame as the main reason Americans are shunning diet colas.

Diet Pepsi volumes fell 5.2% in the last year, according to industry tracker Beverage Digest, while volumes of the market’s leading diet cola, Diet Coke, plunged 6.6%.

In announcing the change, PepsiCo repeatedly described the new Diet Pepsi as “aspartame-free.” 

In a statement, Seth Kaufman, a senior vice president of PepsiCo North America Beverages, says: “Diet cola drinkers in the US told us they wanted aspartame-free Diet Pepsi and we’re delivering.”

The change comes at a time when consumers are showing preferences for natural foods.  Both brands have brought out colas using the stevia plant as a sweetener but these don’t qualify as calore-free.

Diet drinkers opt for water

The new sweetener is a blend of sucralose (better known as Splenda) and acesulfame potassium that will be used in Diet Pepsi, Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi and Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi from August. 

Until a few years ago, diet soda was the industry’s great hope as weight-conscious Americans dialed back on full-calorie soft drinks. But longtime drinkers have been switching to bottled water. Last year, US diet soda volumes fell 5.9% while full-calorie soda volumes rose 0.9%, according to Beverage Digest.

Diet Pepsi’s market share was 4.3% last year, barely half of Diet Coke’s 8.5%.

“The big question is does Coke follow, because that’s the big brand, but it would be following in Pepsi’s footsteps. There’s tension involved,’’ says independent branding consultant Dean Crutchfield.

Coca-Cola is sticking with aspartame,” which it says is one of the most “researched ingredients in the world and safe.”

Scientific studies show low risk

The Centre for Science in the Public Interest, a public health group and soft drink critic, says while consumers should still avoid acesulfame potassium, more commonly known as Ace K, sucralose is “likely’’ a safer sweetener than aspartame. 

It cites past studies suggesting aspartame had caused tumours in rats and that tests in the 1970s flagged Ace K as a potential cancer risk.

PepsiCo says it continues to stand behind the safety of aspartame and will keep using it outside the US and in other diet offerings, including Diet Mountain Dew and Pepsi Max.

Aspartame “doesn’t even hit top 10” among concerns of Pepsi Max drinkers, PepsiCo’s Mr Kaufman says, adding that aspartame “remains an important sweetener option for us.”

Aspartame, developed by a GD Searle & Co researcher in 1965, has been under suspicion almost from its inception. But federal authorities in the US and European Union food regulators have repeatedly found aspartame to be safe.

The European Food and Safety Association in 2013 completed a full review of aspartame and ruled out any associated risk of genetic damage or cancer. It also determined it doesn’t harm the brain or developing infants during pregnancy.

The American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association said in 2012 that artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, “when used judiciously…could facilitate reductions in added sugar’’ and help with weight loss.

But criticism – particularly in social media – flared up last year due in part to a study in the journal Nature. The study, published in September, indicated zero-calorie sweeteners such as saccharin, sucralose and aspartame can change bacteria in the gut and trigger higher blood glucose levels, a risk factor for diabetes.

Production ceases as volumes drop

The NutraSweet Co, which is based in Augusta, Georgia, made the sweetener a popular brand in the US. Last year, it announced it would stop making aspartame and close its Augusta plant. 

Volumes for artificial sweeteners, an estimated $US2 billion market, have been declining in the US and Western Europe since about 2008. 

Sales volume of aspartame, the third-largest artificial sweetener in the world, have been declining 2% annually since then in North America. 

Most of that decline is attributable to reduced diet soda consumption.

The top two sweeteners are sodium cyclamate, popular in China but banned in the US, and saccharin, known as Sweet ‘N Low.

Sucralose is made by UK-based Tate & Lyle, which last year reported a 5% increase in sweetener volumes. Regardless, it is closing a Singapore plant and consolidating production into a Alabama plant. It says it aims to make Splenda a “low-cost and sustainable business.”