Coke Is It!

April 29, 2004 2:29 PM

Introducing: Low Carb Coke! *sigh*
posted by braun_richard (47 comments total)

But is it as delicious and refreshing as Pepsi Blue?
posted by keswick at 2:30 PM on April 29, 2004

i knew keswick would be the first to say that
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 2:37 PM on April 29, 2004

what's wrong with diet coke? doesn't it have zero carbs?
posted by crunchland at 2:40 PM on April 29, 2004

I realized the low carb bandwagon was out of controlw when Low Carb Multivitamins hit the market.
posted by jazon at 2:41 PM on April 29, 2004

Maybe they could make it in a Crystal format? :-D
posted by shepd at 2:42 PM on April 29, 2004

Diet Coke is already carb-free. But I suppose they wouldn't tap into the low-carb market nearly as well if they just came out and said that.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:43 PM on April 29, 2004

To tell you the truth, if I could get a can of coke with 15 grams of sugar (instead of 36) and no artificial sweeteners I bet it might not taste too bad. But I'm betting they're just going to load it up with more chems.
posted by kozad at 2:45 PM on April 29, 2004

How many carbohydrates are there in bullshit?
posted by mathis23 at 2:47 PM on April 29, 2004

what's wrong with diet coke? doesn't it have zero carbs?

Yep; whereas the new "low carb" coke has half the sugar of regular coke, so it's kind of like a diet coke for people who aren't too serious about their diets.

Personally, for all my low carb beverage needs, I prefer hard liquor.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:49 PM on April 29, 2004

OldNewsFilter: Story dated April 19th and previously discussed to death at MonkeyFilter (where for the record, I was the first to say Pepsi Blue).
posted by wendell at 2:49 PM on April 29, 2004

Because just not drinking coke to cut down on carbs is so fucking hard.

It's not the heat, it's the humanity.
posted by Dark Messiah at 2:49 PM on April 29, 2004

Diet Coke tastes much different from regular Coke. Some people prefer the faintly chemical taste of Diet Coke. Cola marketing people are aware of this, which is why they don't stress that the "diet" product tastes similar to the original formula.

This sounds more like the failed Pepsi One, that tried to be low-calorie while approximating the corn-syrupy taste of regular Pepsi. Of course, because this is labeled "low-carb" they'll sell a lot of it until all those dieters realize that they're still fat and the next fad heats up.
posted by Mayor Curley at 2:50 PM on April 29, 2004

Also, I don't care if something was previously discussed on Monkeyfilter. I play in the big leagues, so I don't have time to follow Triple-A teams.
posted by Mayor Curley at 2:52 PM on April 29, 2004 [1 favorite]

Kinda cranky there, ain't'cha Mayor? On the subject of diets, could I suggest a little more roughage in yours?
posted by mojohand at 2:56 PM on April 29, 2004

To tell you the truth, if I could get a can of coke with 15 grams of sugar (instead of 36) and no artificial sweeteners I bet it might not taste too bad. But I'm betting they're just going to load it up with more chems.

I wish there were more sodas out there that weren't so damned sweet (or "dry"?). I'm thinking of European drinks like Orangina and some of the UK ginger beers. I'm a fan of the "Italian sodas" you can get in a lot of espresso bars. It's a large glass of plain soda water with your choice of flavoured sugar syrup. Almond is one that's quite good. The proportion of syrup to water seems about half of most commercial sodas. So they are sweet and flavorful, but not like drinking sugar water.
posted by sixdifferentways at 3:01 PM on April 29, 2004

Low carb is the new low fat and just as stupid if people aren't addressing the rest of their diet and exercise.

Besides, I actually know people that drink at least a six pack of Coke a day. How? I really don't have any idea. I think they used to be smokers, they've traded chain smoking for chain coking.

Bleh. I'm glad I'm not their stomach lining (or anyone else's for that matter since stomach lining rarely gets the girl).
posted by fenriq at 3:08 PM on April 29, 2004

On the subject of diets, could I suggest a little more roughage in yours?

I'm not sure what I need in my diet, but you sound like you know your stuff. Give me your address and I'll happily send you a padded envelope full of my feces.
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:12 PM on April 29, 2004 [1 favorite]

fenriq, just a six pack?

Try a couple of double gulps a day here (96 teaspoons, or 1 pint of sugar). And I never smoked. Now I just drink 2 large diet cokes a day... It's amazing what you can do when you aren't shaking from sugar. Next thing to tackle: Caffiene.
posted by shepd at 3:22 PM on April 29, 2004

i like foamy the squirrell's take on the whole low-carb thing.
(flash, turn on your sound, and definitely NSFW).
posted by dolface at 3:24 PM on April 29, 2004

Low Carb / Diet Coke sounds like "Light" cigarettes to me. Slap whatever self-deluding label you want on it, at the end of the day if you're serious about your health you'll just stop.

Self-restraint, cheapest diet ever.
posted by Dark Messiah at 3:34 PM on April 29, 2004

I was a test-drinker for this -- tried two different six packs of seemingly different formulas. Both of them tasted better to me than Diet Coke does.
posted by whoshotwho at 3:35 PM on April 29, 2004

I'm thinking low carb Coke might mean made with sucralose, sugar with a couple of added chlorine atoms, which is marketed as Splenda, which is sucralose with maltodextrin, an indigestible starch. which is what is Diet Rite made with. It tastes like and has the body of sugar and zero carbs. A Coke made with it ought to taste better and have a better mouth feel than Diet Coke.
posted by y2karl at 3:42 PM on April 29, 2004

In Canada, Orange and Grape Crush come in no calorie Splenda sweetened versions, or so I have read.
posted by y2karl at 3:44 PM on April 29, 2004

This sounds more like the failed Pepsi One

Pepsi One has failed? As of when? Sheesh, I'd better start hoarding then.

BTW, Pepsi has their own "low-carb" cola coming out, dubbed Pepsi Edge. They announced first, but Coke will ship first.
posted by kindall at 3:53 PM on April 29, 2004

y2karl, I believe that you're right about them using Splenda.

I agree that the low-carb hype is annoying, but personally, I'm looking forward to trying this. I like Coke, and I don't want to stop drinking it. I want to consume less calories, but I hate Diet Coke. So if this stuff actually tastes like real Coke, I can cut my Coke calorie intake in half -- without drinking any less.
posted by pmurray63 at 4:18 PM on April 29, 2004

Pepsi One kicks ass. I don't know why it's not popular.

The next step will be to market Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi with splenda rather than nutrasweet. Aspartame is nasty shit. (Warning: conspiracy theories)
posted by PrinceValium at 4:34 PM on April 29, 2004

I like Diet Pepsi. It has the same great taste as Pepsi One, but no calories.
posted by tss at 5:01 PM on April 29, 2004

PrinceValium-
LALALALALA I can't hear you talk about how nasty aspartame is.
posted by oflinkey at 5:16 PM on April 29, 2004

Consumers are the true architects of this idea

Sure, they probably said the same thing about "New Coke" back in the day too.
posted by clevershark at 5:37 PM on April 29, 2004

There is a lot of research now that seems to indicate that protein suppresses appetite, that exercise may do something similar and that ketosis in reality does pretty much nothing to help curb appetite or induce weight loss. You might not be able to find it on the web though, drowned by marketing.
If low carbohydrate diets are really low calorie diets in disguise due to protein suppressing appetite maybe Coke should really be producing something like pork soda?
posted by snarfodox at 5:41 PM on April 29, 2004

Is this something you'd have to enjoy the taste of malted battery acid to appreciate?
posted by inpHilltr8r at 6:41 PM on April 29, 2004

I don't know about soda but on a low carb diet you can make nachos with pork rinds. Nummers....
posted by y2karl at 7:09 PM on April 29, 2004

I drink Nutra-sweet by the 50 gallon drum, daily (hmmm diet Mnt Dew.) I tried a new flavored water (Fruit 2-0) which had sucralose in it - picked up a case of the stuff because I liked it so much. Then I preceeded to not sleep for a week. I finally traced it back to this water with sucralose. Slept like a rock the day I stopped drinking it.

Something weird with that sucralose stuff.
posted by fluffycreature at 7:36 PM on April 29, 2004

The more I think about this whole thing, the scarier it gets.

All these fake sweeteners being developed because we basically can't keep our hands out of the cookie jar. Instead of eating fewer cookies, let the people gorge on cookies, just make a different sugar.

Maybe I'm alone here, but I'm fuckin' tired of companies redesigning every ingredient in the food I eat. I never thought we'd do such a 180 on natural selection; reinventing candy so a nation of fat-asses can gorge themselves without consequence.

No wonder we're so prone to vice, whenever we get hooked on one everyone tries to make it safer. It isn't called a "vice" because the word looks stylish.

And on that note, it's time to drink the remainder of my 2L bottle of Coke Classic and smoke the other half-pack of smokes I have. Then I'm going to live with the consequence -- however long that may be.
posted by Dark Messiah at 7:57 PM on April 29, 2004

Different sugars rock! They allow me to gorge on cookies.
posted by donth at 9:15 PM on April 29, 2004

XQUZYPHYR> ...but she's got a new hat!

<ralph>
I eated the purple berries.
...
They taste like burning.
</ralph>>
posted by snarfodox at 9:51 PM on April 29, 2004

I really have a problem with this whole "birth control" thing. I mean, just control your fucking urges already! I'm sick of the consumer/industrial culture that alters nature and encourages us in the pursuit of our out-of-control vices.

People make me sick.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 10:11 PM on April 29, 2004

I dunno, I just don't classify the desire for a nice cold diet coke every couple of days as an "out of control vice," or even a vice at all, but maybe that's just me. Since when was regular coke "natural" anyways? Besides, this is just one of the umpteen new products large food and beverage companies come out with every year that are introduced with much hoopla and trickle into nothing after a few months until they are quietly pulled off the shelves.
posted by chemgirl at 10:39 PM on April 29, 2004

In desending order of quantity, I drink little other than water, coffee, green tea, and beer. Not mixed.

Fuck the Coke, and the Pepsi too.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:45 AM on April 30, 2004

Instead of eating fewer cookies, let the people gorge on cookies, just make a different sugar.


Welcome to the free market, dude.
posted by glenwood at 5:33 AM on April 30, 2004

I started drinking Propel "fitness water" about a month ago, which is sweetened with Splenda--it's not that bad. It has a lingering Nutra-Sweet-like aftertaste, but it's pretty faint.

If there were a Coke variant that tasted like almost like Coke, but with something like 100-150 calories in a can--sure, I'd try it.
posted by Prospero at 12:21 PM on April 30, 2004

I'm thinking low carb Coke might mean made with sucralose, sugar with a couple of added chlorine atoms, which is marketed as Splenda

I don't know much organic chemistry, but taking a perfectly good molecule like sugar and adding some chlorine doesn't seem like it would result in something that I'd voluntarily drink.
posted by sfenders at 4:58 PM on April 30, 2004

beware the aspartame!
posted by quonsar at 9:49 PM on April 30, 2004

I don't know much organic chemistry, but taking a perfectly good molecule like sugar and adding some chlorine doesn't seem like it would result in something that I'd voluntarily drink.

Well, if you add chlorine to sodium atoms, you get salt. Pretty spooky, huh?

Sucralose: An Overview is a more footnoted, less alarmist perspective.
posted by y2karl at 10:09 PM on April 30, 2004

Table salt, sure. Alas, I'm pretty sure we're talking about covalently-bonded chlorine here. Yes, it is spooky.

I didn't mean to imply that I thought it was really dangerous, just that the concept doesn't appeal to me at all. There's some chance that it might be dangerous, and the only benefit we get from it is hyper-sweet beverages with no nutritional value. Doesn't seem like a good idea.
posted by sfenders at 9:19 AM on May 1, 2004

There's some chance that it might be dangerous, and the only benefit we get from it is hyper-sweet beverages with no nutritional value.

There's some chance, I suppose, although it appears the testing for new sweeteners got raised significantly after the cyclamate scare as the Sucralose: An Overview  link points out. Some people hold that hyper-sweet beverages with high fructose corn syrup have less than ideal nutritional value and are packed with the calories, to boot. Sucralose seems the least objectionable of the artificial sweeteners so far but I understand your concerns--it makes me a bit uneasy to read about halogenated sugars, too, so I'm not exactly pounding down the Diet-Rites or the low carb ice cream. If only there were the diet foods of Heinlein's short story Magic, Inc.--you eat them and all the excess you pack down vanishes an hour later. Oh, well--I have to get out and get some exercise now...
posted by y2karl at 11:56 AM on May 1, 2004

I've got one last link on the subject: here is more than I ever wanted to know about artificial sweeteners in general. It nicely summarizes the situation with sucralose. In short: no evidence on the long-term effects on humans, nobody's even looked at what it will do to the environment once it passes through those human bodies, the manufacturing process leaves it with various nasty impurities, and it's a chlorinated hydrocarbon so it damn well better be tested more thoroughly than your average food product.

What I'd prefer to see the wonders of modern scientific magic give us is a full meal in the form of a small pill. Eat three pills a day, plus a little something for fiber, and you're set. Carrying a month's supply of food in your pocket would be nifty. Oh well.
posted by sfenders at 1:53 PM on May 1, 2004