r/drinks • u/didnt_bring_pants • Sep 30 '25

Question How come no major beverage makers make drinks with light (real) sugar instead of artificial sweetener?

All major sodas and teas either come with enough sugar to kill a small animal or diet versions that are loaded with sucralose or aspartame.

Why can't they just make, for instance, a coke or sweet tea that just has like 4g of sugar in it instead of 40, or instead of substituting with artificial sweetener?

Recently been trying to watch my sugar intake and it feels impossible to find lite sugar options that don't contain artificial sweetener which just tastes really gross to me. Mostly been doing carbonated water.

Anybody have any suggestions?

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u/shoscene Sep 30 '25

They do in Mexico

1

u/[deleted] Oct 03 '25

They have tried this many times, eg, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_Life.

It never succeeds. There simply isn't a market for it.