Coca-Cola Shuffles Drink Lineup, Bai Seizes Ground

With a growing awareness among American consumers about the dangers of consuming too much sugar, it’s no wonder that one of the first casualties of this growing awareness would be the soft drink industry. Soda sales in the U.S. fell to a 30-year low in 2016.

Even sales of diet sodas are in decline due to concerns about the health effects of artificial sweeteners. What’s a fizzy drink company to do?

Coca-Cola has responded to this downward trend by replacing Coke Zero with a new beverage called Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.

While both beverages are sugar-free, Coke Zero Sugar will emphasize more boldly its sugar-free contents with the words “Zero Sugar” proudly emblazoned across its bottles and cans.

But if you’re thinking that the new version of Coke Zero will be any healthier for you, think again. In looking at the ingredients of both beverages there is little difference between them. In fact, Coke Zero Sugar will still contain the same artificial sweetener found in the soon-to-be retired Coke Zero that seems to cause the most concern; aspartame.

With some studies showing a link between artificial sweeteners like aspartame with obesity and diabetes, the promise of the diet soda as a healthy alternative to the regular sugar-packed soda is clearly on the wane. Documentary films, books, and articles railing against the evils of sugar—and even its artificial replacements—are certainly having an impact on the buying behavior of the thirsty, sweet-toothed American consumer. Infographics like this one describing the effects of a Diet Coke on the human body are not easily forgotten.

Although the new Coke Zero Sugar is said to taste more like the original Coca-Cola Classic, it will offer little comfort to those beverage consumers who are looking for a new drink that will not weigh heavily on their health-conscious minds. Why can’t there be a guilt-free version that tastes just like the bubbly and delicious Coca-Cola Classic we used to enjoy at the movies with our large tube of buttered popcorn? Why must we always worry whether or not the beverage we are drinking is making us fatter or more prone to obesity and diabetes?

Perhaps one day we will be able to enjoy a fizzy drink again without worrying that we are slowing poisoning ourselves and moving closer towards some horrible and debilitating disease. With all of the advances in sciences and medicine, it would seem such a beverage would be well-within the grasp of the nutritionists at the Coca-Cola taste laboratory. Can’t they just put something out that is both delicious and healthy? If they can’t, then surely someone else will. The easy part is making a drink delicious, but making it healthy at the same time is the real challenge.

And that is the part of the equation that is attracting other beverage companies into the market who promise to fill the void. The only problem is that some of these newcomers to the beverage scene are making promises that may be hard to keep.

A relatively new drink that has become popular among more health-conscious consumers, especially after its first nationwide commercial that aired earlier this year during the Super Bowl, is Bai Antioxidant Infusion. Dr Pepper Snapple Group purchased Bai last year for $1.7 billion. The Bai drinks are expected to generate $425 million in net sales in 2017.

Their ad campaign stresses that their drinks are only 5 calories, contain healthy antioxidants (that sounds healthy enough), and, rather than containing artificial sweeteners, have “smart sweeteners” (stevia and erythritol). The drinks are marketed to hit that sweet spot of deliciousness and healthiness that every sugar-loving, soda-guzzling, cola drinker has wished for since the first time he or she accidentally came across that scary infographic above.

Beverages like Bai that claim to be a healthy alternative to soda have entered the market at the right time. Sodas, even the diet ones, are oftentimes spoken of as one of the main culprits of the rapidly rising rates of obesity and diabetes. The increasingly anti-artifical sweetener campaign against diet soda has obviously had a huge impact on how consumers view them today.

You can’t possibly drink diet soda ever again without being haunted by that “What Happens One Hour After Drinking Diet Coke” infographic. It’s nearly as powerful in getting you to swear off drinking diet soda as that old anti-tobacco television commercial years ago that portrayed a hoarse-voiced smoker sitting in a darkened room smoking a cigarette through a hole in her neck. Some images just never leave you.

So with an increasing number of consumers being scared away from their diet sodas, beverage companies touting health benefits like Bai have a tremendous opportunity to pick up those customers. But just how healthy are those Bai drinks?

Well, having only 5 calories per bottle seems healthy enough and the fact that it contains no artificial sweeteners would appear to make it safer to drink than diet soda. Those “smart sweeteners” must make the Bai drinks taste sweet and delicious without all of the dangers associated with the artificial ones found in diet soda. So far so good.

But wait. Aren’t carbs supposed to be nearly as bad for us as sugar since they eventually break down and become sugar and then, eventually, fat?

A close inspection of the nutritional labels on some of the varieties of the Bai drinks reveal a potential deal killer for anyone who spends any time monitoring their carb intake. Atkins anyone?

Keep in mind, these Bai drinks are only 8 ounces and quite a few of the flavors contain up to 9 grams of carbs per serving. A closer examination of the nutritional label surprisingly notes that each 8-ounce bottle is considered 2 servings. So, assuming you wouldn’t stop drinking your bottle of Bai after only 4 ounces and continued drinking the entire bottle, you would have consumed 18 grams of carbs. For some, 18 grams of carbs is too high a price to pay for an 8-ounce drink.

It’s up to each individual to decide on their own if that tradeoff is worth it, but most Atkins followers or other carb-counters will most probably pass on the Bai.

So the long wait for the holy grail of beverages continues.