By Tracy Frank
FARGO—I first spotted the strange green glass bottle of Coke in the grocery store a couple months back.
Upon close inspection of the label, I learned it was made with stevia.
I was curious, but didn’t buy it. As much as I’ve tried to like stevia because it’s a sweetener that doesn’t add calories, I just don’t. Even though it’s extracted from the leaves of a plant, it tastes too much like artificial sweetener to me.
But when a friend offered me a can of Coca-Cola Life a few weeks later, I decided to give it a try. A reduced-calorie cola would certainly be a better option than the full-sugar, full-calorie soda I like to drink.
Coca-Cola Life has been available at stores nationwide since November. It’s sweetened with cane sugar and stevia leaf extract, so a 12-ounce can has 90 calories and 24 grams of sugar as opposed to the 140 calories and 39 grams of sugar in a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola Classic.
If you’re looking for a reduced-calorie cola made with natural sweeteners and you don’t mind the taste of stevia, this might be a good option.
But I didn’t like it. And the 24 grams of added sugar is not low enough for me to try to convince myself to like it.
Source: www.inforum.com