Beverages Take a Sugar Rush Away From HFCS

Reports of certain segments of the beverage industry’s return to sugar are surfacing this month. Today I saw that Snapple, Pepsi and Mountain Dew have plans to use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup in their products: Snapple as part of the relaunch of the flagging brand and new all-natural label, and Pepsi and Mountain Dew sodas for a limited time starting in April.

Apparently the marketers decided to cater to consumers who buy into “Big Corn” conspiracies and killer ingredient of the month fears. (Read some of the comments on blogs like this one about Snapple, if you want a sampling of current consumer thinking.)

Part of Snapple’s schtick, is that the sugar version contains 40 less calories than the HFCS version. Implied is that using sugar means less calories; but I’d hazard a guess that (assuming sugar use is still slightly more expensive) formulators cut the sweetener level down to save money and to put out a product that is less cloyingly sweet. But in reading some of the news items, comments and blogs, you’re left with the impression that sugar provides less calories.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I don’t drink a lot of sugar- or HFCS-sweetened beverages―high-intensity sweeteners are my friends as are unsweetened fizzy waters. With my lack of exercise and potato-chip addiction, I know I don’t need the calories.

I do find it rather humorous that refined white sugar is the new “natural food.” I haven’t seen irrefutable evidence that, calorie for calorie, HFCS makes you fatter than anything else. But I’m one of those people who oddly think a balanced diet and sufficient exercise is by far the best way to maintain a healthy weight, especially since I’m the poster child for the opposite effect.

But with soda sales down and the economy forcing people to rethink their food or beverage expenditures, companies are looking for a point of differentiation. Some people actually like the taste of a particular sweetener, although most probably can’t actually tell the difference. It will be interesting to see if consumers embrace the new formulations, or if we’re just seeing the latest reincarnation of “New Coke.”

–Lynn A. Kuntz