PepsiCo is all set to bring new diet Pepsi this week
PepsiCo is all set to bring new diet Pepsi this week

PepsiCo is all set to bring the new diet Pepsi to the market by this week.

The company said in response to customer feedback that it would replace the aspartame in the drink with another artificial sweetener that has less baggage, reported AP.

The rollout will test the theory that the sweetener is to blame for fleeing customers or if other issues might be at play.

Other diet sodas that still have aspartame include Diet Coke, Diet Dr Pepper and Fanta Zero.

Traditional diet sodas sales have been falling. Industry executives blaming the freefall on unfounded concerns people have about aspartame. Two years back, Coca-Cola even tested ads in select newspapers defending the safety of the sweetener.

"It's the No. 1 think that our customers have been calling about,'' said Seth Kaufman, a senior vice president at PepsiCo.

In the short term, Diet Pepsi sales are likely to see bump from the marketing push around the new formula, which will include in-store sampling and discounting in coming weeks.

And in terms of taste, Kaufman said it's not identical but that the drink should still be familiar to fans of Diet Pepsi.

This is not the first attempt by PepsiCo Inc. to lift flagging sales of Diet Pepsi. In 2012, the company tried improving the drink by combining aspartame with acesulfame potassium, often called ace-K, another artificial sweetener that helps prevent the taste from degrading over time.

The newest version of Diet Pepsi will also have ace-K in addition to sucralose, best known by the brand name Splenda. The new cans will be patent with the words ``Now Aspartame Free'' above the Pepsi circle logo.

 
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