News Summary: A sweetener tweak for Diet Pepsi

The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — THE NEWS: PepsiCo Inc. is testing new sweetener mixes for its Diet Pepsi, with a new version set to come out as early as next year.

THE TASTE: The overall taste of the drink isn't changing. The new sweetener mix is just intended to give the taste a longer shelf life; the current sweetener, aspartame, loses its potency faster than the high-fructose corn syrup used in most regular soft drinks.

BACKGROUND: This isn't the first sweetener tweak for a diet soft drink. PepsiCo made a similar switch to its Diet Mountain Dew in 2006, according to Beverage Digest. The Coca-Cola Co. tweaked the sweetener used in Diet Sprite in 2000.