Soda sales have been declining due to the growing number of health-conscious consumers who are worried about the sugar content in their favorite fizzy beverages. Big companies like Pepsi are now coming up with new drinks that use sugar substitutes, hoping these would appeal to weight-watching customers who still want their classic drinks.
In the past, diet cola products using artificial sweeteners just didn't have the same taste as the original, and so sales began to struggle.
Artificial sweeteners can be made sweeter than regular sugar, all while adding zero calories. But many have been getting a bad rap for their possible links to bladder cancer, brain tumors and other health concerns.
Pepsi hopes that its own natural source of low-calorie sweetness for the new product Pepsi True can boost sales again.
Stevia, Pepsi's alternative sweetener, is a sugar substitute derived from plant leaves, which contain zero calories. It gained favor in the 1970s first in Japan and later in the United States when anti-obesity campaigns began to trend.
