I could definitely taste the difference between a diet drink and a normal drink. Diet drinks taste foul to me.

Yes there is a definite difference between normal coke and diet coke, and even coke zero.

Diet coke has a soapy flavour to me and a definite after taste.

Coke life isn't too bad. It has the fuller flavour of normal coke but it does have the artificial sweetener after taste.

Here we go again....

"An 8-oz glass of milk has six times more phenylalanine and thirteen times more aspartic acid than an equivalent amount of soda sweetened with NutraSweet.

An 8-oz glass of fruit juice or tomato juice contains three to five times more methanol than an equivalent amount of soda sweetened with NutraSweet.

Aspartame has been studied extensively, since 1965, with approximately 200 studies conducted in humans and animals. The safety of aspartame has been well established. The results of these scientific studies have shown that eating products sweetened with aspartame is no different from eating other foods and is not associated with adverse health effects.

It is unfortunate that the Internet's remarkable capacity to transmit information means that it can also transmit misinformation widely and with lightning speed."
http://www.joslin.org/info/Correctin...Aspartame.html

Why is aspartame terrible? I've been drinking it for at least twenty years, so what bad things are going to happen to me?

I tried drinking diet coke every day for 2 weeks since I've never drunk it before.

Guess what happened? My appetite went through the roof. I found myself more hungry and my brain/body was craving sweet foods all the time. I also put on about a 1-2kg of water weight.

I stopped 2 days ago and now my body and it's appetite is going back to normal. I'm far less hungry and I don't crave sweet food all the time.

Easily. Even as a mixer with alcohol. Barrs have ruined their limeade by reducing sugar but adding A.S. It's not a diet version but they've tweaked the original. I didn't realise when I bought a can and spotted it straight away and checked the side.

Agreed, it's very easy.

I had some Tango the other day and I immediately identified artificial sweetener. I checked the can and sugar has been reduced and sweeteners added.

Exactly the same happened to Lilt, which is why it doesn't taste as nice anymore.

I haven't looked into the studies on safety etc, I just dislike the taste.

I'm surprised that people are worrying about unnatural sweeteners in their drink of coke! Coke is literally just a load of unnatural chemicals mixed with water. What difference does a dose of aspartame make? If you are drinking enough diet coke to worry about sweeteners affecting your health, you should really think about the other ingredients in coke and consider a switch to water instead.

How much time do you have?

Lots of time. Give me some evidence.

Well, we can't be sure about that: http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancerc...home/aspartame

Have you even read that article?

Have you? Have you read all of it?

Yes. Unless you have Phenylketonuria there are no effects on health.

Noooo! Not Tango too?! Stop wasting our ginger! By all means make diet versions but leave the regular stuff alone and let folk have a choice.

I can't tell the difference between regular and artificial versions, but my husband can instantly, so when I order a diet coke at a restaurant I always make him test it for me before I gulp it down.

I tried Coca Cola Life yesterday and tastes good and it tastes like the normal Coke.

Just trying it now, not impressed. It's only 17% less calories isn't it, got a 1.75litre () bottle, BOGOF so bought one instead of a regular. See how I feel at the end of the bottle.