Soda Made Without High Fructose Corn Syrup: A List of Favorites

Do you drink soda regularly? Most sodas are made with high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is a sweetener derived from corn starch that is markedly cheaper than sugar. It has been reported to have negative effects on one’s blood sugar and may cause increased cravings for sugary foods and beverages. Individuals are encouraged to consume beverages that do not have high fructose corn syrup. It has been negatively associated with the obesity epidemic in the United States. Unfortunately, most carbonated beverages contain high fructose corn syrup and to find those without it is rare. Some manufacturers have started to create new versions of their popular beverages made with sugar. Below is a list of soda made without high fructose corn syrup.

List of Sodas Made without High Fructose Corn Syrup

Due to the recent buzz on the negative health effects associated with high fructose corn syrup more sodas made with sugar have become popular. Companies other than Coca Cola and Pepsico who normally dominate the soda market have started to increase in demand due to their natural ingredients and use of sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Below is a list of some other companies worth looking into for your all natural soda needs.

• GuS (Grown up Soda): an all natural soda lightly sweetened with cane sugar. It comes in a variety of flavors: dry cola, dry pomegranate, star ruby grapefruit, dry valencia orange, grape black currant, extra dry ginger ale, dry meyer lemon, and dry cranberry lime.
  • Ingredients (Dry Cola): purified sparkling water, cane sugar, natural flavors, caramel color (from sugar), lactic acid, citric acid, cola nut extract.
• 365 Everyday Value Black Cherry All Natural Soda: can be found at Whole Foods stores.
  • Ingredients: Filtered carbonated water, cane sugar, natural black cherry flavor, citric acid.
• Jarritos: a naturally flavored soda from Mexico. It comes in many flavors like tamarind, fruit punch, pineapple, cola, lemon lime, and more.
  • Ingredients: Carbonated water (water, carbon dioxide), sugar, citric acid, natural flavor, sodium benzoate (as preservative), caramel color, red 40

Pepsico has gotten on the all natural soda bandwagon by reformulating some of their fan favorites to take out the high fructose corn syrup and replace it with natural sugar. You can find them at your local grocery store or convenience store. Pepsi Throwback is comparable in price to regular Pepsi so don’t think that because it is better for you, it is going to be more expensive. Some soda made without high fructose corn syrup manufactured by Pepsico are:

• Pepsi Natural an all natural cola sweetened with natural sugar and nothing artificial.
  • Ingredients: sparkling water, sugar, natural apple extract (color), caramel color, citric acid, caffeine, acacia gum, tartaric acid, lactic acid, natural flavor, kola nut extract
• Pepsi Throwback Pepsi made with real sugar.
  • Ingredients: carbonated water, sugar, caramel color, phosphoric acid, caffeine, natural flavor
• Mountain Dew Throwback
  • Ingredients: carbonated water, sugar, orange juice concentrate, citric acid, natural flavor, sodium benzoate (preserves freshness), caffeine, sodium citrate, gum arabic, erythorbic acid (preserves freshness), calcium disodium EDTA (to protect flavor), brominated vegetable oil, yellow 5
• Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash naturally sweetened with real sugar.
  • Ingredients: carbonated water, sugar, natural flavor, citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, potassium benzoate (preserves freshness), potassium citrate, red 40, calcium disodium EDTA (to protect flavor), blue 1
• Sierra Mist Natural made with real sugar and nothing artificial.
  • Ingredients: carbonated water, sugar, citric acid, natural flavor, potassium citrate

Coca Cola has not been as proactive in creating soda without high fructose corn syrup as their competitor Pepsico, and most of their beverages continue to contain high fructose corn syrup. The only product produced by Coca Cola that has been reformulated is Sprite with the Sprite Green product.

• Sprite Green
  • Ingredients: carbonated water, lemon juice, sugar, natural flavors, sodium polyphosphates, sodium citrate, potassium sorbate, rebiana, salt, malic acid, ascorbic acid

Message from the RD

Remember, even though the beverage is made with sugar and not high fructose corn syrup it does not mean that you should be making this your number one source of fluid intake throughout the day. Soft drinks made with sugar should be consumed moderately, and the majority of your fluid intake should ideally come from water. Maintain a well balanced diet with regular activity to prevent the onset of obesity.

References

Pepsi Co. www.pepsi.com

Coca Cola www.cocacola.com

Grown Up Soda www.drinkgus.com

Jarritos www.jarritos.com

United States Department of Agriculture www.usda.gov