• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026

2

Current price of silver as of Monday, June 15, 2026

3

Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup

1

Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026

2

Current price of silver as of Monday, June 15, 2026

3

Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup
RetailPepsiCo

Aspartame-free Diet Pepsi isn’t working out so well

By
Daniel Roberts
Daniel Roberts
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Daniel Roberts
Daniel Roberts
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 19, 2015, 2:13 PM ET
Pepsi Co. Products Ahead Of First Quarter Earnings Results
Bottles of PepsiCo Inc. Diet Pepsi brand soda are displayed for sale inside a Royal Dutch Shell Plc gas station in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., on Monday, April 13, 2015. PepsiCo Inc., whose stable of brands includes beverages and the Frito-Lay snack division, is scheduled to release first-quarter earnings results on April 23. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Luke Sharrett — Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Last week, PepsiCo re-launched Diet Pepsi, now without the artificial sweetener Aspartame. The relaunch isn’t going so well yet.

PepsiCo first announced the move in April. It was seen as a move both to fix fading sales and score points with the health-conscious: the sweetener has been linked with health risks. At the time, the senior vice president of Pepsi’s flavors unit, Seth Kaufman, said that, “Diet cola drinkers in the U.S. told us they wanted aspartame-free Diet Pepsi.”

Well, maybe they didn’t. Less than a week into the launch of the safer soda, which uses a Splenda blend, some customers are already sounding off on Pepsi’s official Facebook page, commenting (often on unrelated posts) about their dislike of the new taste. One user writes, “Aspartame free Diet Pepsi is awful… They could have made the Aspartame free stuff a separate entity rather than ruining a good thing. In my opinion.” Another says: “Got a bunch of the new diet Pepsi. Disgusting. Will have to return.”

The critics took to Twitter as well:

The new diet @pepsi is awful!!!!!!! It always taste flat and leaves a bad after taste. I'm ok with the aspartame #nasty

— CoHeir🕊🤍⚖️ (@deeofNYC) August 19, 2015

Diet Pepsi without aspartame is so nasty #wewantaspartame #pepsi @pepsi

— shelbert (@shelby_row) August 19, 2015

I want my aspartame-laden Caffeine Free Diet @Pepsi back! The Splenda version leaves a horrible aftertaste.

— Electric Emily (@mlirhar) August 17, 2015

Business Insider ran the bold headline, “People hate the new Diet Pepsi.” (A Pepsi spokesperson told the website that some 75% of consumers surveyed prefer the aspartame-free version.)

But not everyone on Facebook was negative; some users are nonetheless thanking PepsiCo for its step toward a healthier product, like Sabrina Ray-Pittman: “Just heard Pepsi is removing aspartame from DP! Thanks Pepsi, for being the first to do this.” Moreover, new Diet Pepsi is only out in a few markets, and old Diet Pepsi is not entirely off of store shelves yet, a Pepsi spokesperson tells Fortune, so it may be early to call the new flavor a definite miss. Finally, financial blog The Street ran a staff taste test of the old and the new and found that, “the difference between new and old Diet Pepsi wasn’t so readily apparent.”

For those fearing they’ll never again get to enjoy the Diet Pepsi they once knew, there was good news last month. On an earnings call in July, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi did a bit of 180-turn (the company had initially said it was killing off the aspartame version entirely) and said the old version won’t die entirely: “We’ll figure out how to make it available online.”

This story was updated with comment from Pepsi.

 

About the Author
By Daniel Roberts
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Retail

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Retail

Young worker dreams while working
SuccessCareers
Michaels CEO tells young workers to stop daydreaming of success and ‘get moving, take some action, take some risk’
By Emma BurleighJune 16, 2026
2 hours ago
There’s nothing as American as apple pie. McDonald’s is bringing back its fried apple pie for the first time in 30 years for the country’s 250th
RetailMcDonald's
There’s nothing as American as apple pie. McDonald’s is bringing back its fried apple pie for the first time in 30 years for the country’s 250th
By The Associated Press and Dee-Ann DurbinJune 16, 2026
3 hours ago
ph
RetailRestaurants
Yum Brands sells a shrinking Pizza Hut for $2.7 billion
By Michelle Chapman and The Associated PressJune 16, 2026
4 hours ago
tt
RetailRetail
Target turnaround adds Isaac Mizrahi as creative director at large
By Anne D'Innocenzio and The Associated PressJune 16, 2026
4 hours ago
slop
RetailGen Z
Gen Z calls it ‘slop’—but they’re fast casual’s most loyal (and demanding) customers
By Guy Yehiav and Darin DetwilerJune 16, 2026
7 hours ago
Gina Rinehart
InvestingSpaceX
Australia’s richest person just bought a SpaceX stake worth more than $1 billion. ‘Elon has done what very few people in history have done’
By Jacqueline MunisJune 15, 2026
21 hours ago

Most Popular

Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 15, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 15, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 15, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 15, 2026
1 day ago
Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup
Success
Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup
By Preston ForeJune 15, 2026
1 day ago
Hundreds of Stanford students walked out of their grad ceremony to protest Google CEO’s commencement speech. It wasn’t all about AI
Big Tech
Hundreds of Stanford students walked out of their grad ceremony to protest Google CEO’s commencement speech. It wasn’t all about AI
By Tristan BoveJune 15, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of gold as of June 15, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of June 15, 2026
By Danny BakstJune 15, 2026
1 day ago
Meet Gwynne Shotwell, the engineer-turned-COO who runs SpaceX in platform heels and is now worth over $2 billion
Startups & Venture
Meet Gwynne Shotwell, the engineer-turned-COO who runs SpaceX in platform heels and is now worth over $2 billion
By Eva RoytburgJune 15, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.