The Science of Soda

In a quest to find the new sweet spot in soda sales, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have both tapped biotech firms to create low-sugar soft drinks that have great taste.

December 04, 2013

SAN DIEGO – The two biggest soft drink companies are branching out into new territory in an effort to recapture consumer interest in soda, Advertising Age reports. PepsiCo and Coca-Cola both have partnered with biotech companies to find a way to make a tasty, low-sugar soda.

Senomyx, working with PepsiCo, has developed an ingredient called “S617” that would deliver a more sweet taste to the tongue than is actually present in the drink. Essentially, that would let PepsiCo to greatly reduce the sweetener in regular soda but retain the same flavor.

Coke has continued to test steviol glycosides, the sweet, no-calorie extracts from stevia plants. Coca-Cola Life, with steviol glycosides, debuted this summer in Argentina. The company is looking at a recent U.S. trial of Sprite Select and Fanta Select with stevia.

Meanwhile, both companies have been struggling lately with sagging sales and repeated attacks from health advocates and politicians about the negative effects of soda consumption. New formulas could boost interest in soft drinks as well as give Coke and PepsiCo a new area of focus for advertising and marketing.

The different sweeteners could also assist the companies in forging new mid-calorie soft drinks. “Getting new sweetener technology appears to be absolutely critical,” said John Sicher, who publishes Beverage Digest. “Whether these companies can get natural sweeteners that bring the calories way down and preserve good taste is really going to be what people are looking for over the next year or two.”

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