
The Decline of ‘Big Soda’ (2015) - deegles
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/upshot/soda-industry-struggles-as-consumer-tastes-change.html
======
di
This article is from 2015.

Since then, Philly was able to pass a "soda tax" which went into effect Jan
2017. In it's first year, it raised $78.8M.

[https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2018/01/26/phi...](https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2018/01/26/philly-
beverage-tax-soda-tax-pbt-2017-year-revenue.html)

~~~
bluedino
I was in Chicago last summer and they had the now-repealed soda tax, or
whatever they called it. A penny per ounce. So my fountain drink was something
like an extra 16 cents.

Why? 16 cents on a $2.99 drink isn't going to make anyone think twice. It even
applied to diet soft drinks that contained no sugar!

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Roritharr
Coke reentered my life with their new Coke Zero formula. I sincerely love it,
I just hope science will come up with a cure for the horrible disease this
will eventually induce in me.

~~~
booleandilemma
Relevant Onion article:

[https://www.theonion.com/man-who-drinks-5-diet-cokes-per-
day...](https://www.theonion.com/man-who-drinks-5-diet-cokes-per-day-hoping-
doctors-work-1819575868/amp)

~~~
Something1234
That's a great article. Really describes how we Americans really are, and how
we expect some modern marvel for whatever ails us. Really explains how snake
oil salesman are allowed to exist.

~~~
thaumasiotes
Snake oil salesmen are documented as far back as history goes, and in
preliterate societies. I wouldn't look to "American culture" or "modern
marvels" for explanations.

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saluki
I gave up soda, it was tough, I've tried it a few times but finally did it
this year.

I did it with a combo of green tea and the soda water + lemon/lime flavoring
drinks. I'll also drink water and add lemon or lime juice.

I feel a lot better not drinking soda. If I need a pick me up I'll drink green
tea. If I need something carbonated I drink a soda water/citrus drink.

Now if I take a taste of soda, it tastes awful, I don't think I'll ever go
back to drinking it.

~~~
bhouston
How is it giving up soda, if you replace it with soda water/citrus drink? I am
a little confused. I guess your reduced your soda intake mostly by replacing
it with green tea though.

~~~
tesin
I think this is a clash of use of American-isms. Soda (stand-alone) is sugared
soft drink. Soda Water, is usually carbonated water (sugar free, sometimes
flavored)

~~~
dragonwriter
> I think this is a clash of use of American-isms. Soda (stand-alone) is
> sugared soft drink. Soda Water, is usually carbonated water (sugar free,
> sometimes flavored)

IME, consistently, for my while life in the US, “Soda” (standalone) is (in
general use, there are contexts where it means something else) a carbonated
and flavored soft drink, whether or not it is sugared, while “soda water” is
carbonated water without additional flavor.

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koverda
One thing that I didn't see mentioned in the article are drinks like La Croix.
Those seem to be taking the place of soda for a lot of people.

~~~
marpstar
Agreed. I drink diet soda during the afternoon, but during the evening I
switch to La Croix, because no caffeine. While there are some sodas that are
caffeine free, they've always tasted off to me.

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pasdoy
Sadly it was replaced by "bottled flavored sweetened water".

~~~
deadmetheny
Some certainly has, but not all flavoured waters are sweetened. Particularly,
La Croix seems to have picked up a national following in the last few years,
alongside Perrier/San Pellegrino waters, cold brew coffee, and kombucha. And
even those waters have way less sugar than soda.

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banderman
I imagine that in the future giving a child any significant quantity of a
super sugar liquid like soda might be seen as child abuse. The way it triggers
the human brain isn't much different than illegal drugs.

~~~
bluedino
Or the health effects will be held in the same regard as cigarettes. My dad
started smoking when he was 12, it wasn't uncommon for kids to do that.

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Something1234
How bad is fresca for me? It's low calorie, and sugar free. It's got to be bad
for me.

~~~
mtgx
Good call:

[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-
sweete...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweeteners-
confound-the-brain/)

[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-artificial-
sw...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-artificial-sweeteners-
may-cause-us-to-eat-more/)

------
vfc1
Even if it's 2015 not a moment too soon, there are 7 teaspoons of pure refined
sugar in a 33cl can. The ascorbic acid is the only thing that makes us not
throw up immediately after drinking it.

Sooner or later the 3 major addictive components that the food industry uses
to grab customers need to be regulated: sugar, fat and salt.

Without regulation it results in an arms race, a new brand comes along and how
do they grab customers? More salt, more fat and more sugar than the
established brands.

For any progress to be made, there should a tax on these big 3 at once and not
going after one product at a time.

~~~
zumu
My life is filled with pro salt anecdata, so I'm not convinced it's on the
same level as sugar.

I'd be interested in seeing your anti salt sources.

~~~
panzagl
Not salt per se, as much as the combination of salt, fat, and sugar leading to
over-consumption of food.

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vlucas
If you're looking for a long-term investment trend that will last for many
more decades to come, invest in companies that produce water, coffee, and tea.
All the displaced soda sales are going to them.

~~~
nxc18
In many (most?) cases, that company making water, coffee, and tea is Coca-Cola
or Pepsi.

Coke has been particularly prolific in this area.

~~~
vlucas
Yes, true - Vitamin Water, Dasani, etc. have been good for them.

------
thedz
(2015)

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dwaltrip
Are there any robust results about the potential long term health effects of
artificial sweeteners yet? Last time I looked I had a hard time finding
conclusive takeaways.

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jdlyga
The rise of energy drinks, then low sugar / sugar free energy drinks killed
soda for me. 160 calories of Sprite is just empty calories vs a 60 calorie
Kickstart that has caffeine.

~~~
eropple
Most "energy drinks" are both functionally "soda" (though more expensive) and
owned by "Big Soda". Kickstart is a Mountain Dew brand, which is a PepsiCo
property. I'm not criticizing, mind--I really like the zero-calorie Monsters
and I drink a lot of Diet Pepsi, though I seem to be the only person who likes
the sucralose Diet Pepsi formulation whenever the topic comes up.

The only time sugared soda ends up in my house is at parties for mixed drinks,
'cause I still can't countenance Diet Coke in a drink. (Diet ginger ale is
pretty okay with Jameson's, though.)

