What's the Online Buzz

I received a comment on an earlier post... figured I could comment on the comment. Can I say comment 1 more time in the course of a sentence? Anyway, the post from "anonymous" asks:

"Does anyone know why the canned diet soda is so much better than the fountain drink?"

While I do tend to favor the taste of canned diet soda over diet drinks from a fountain, I still enjoy fountain drinks as well. I don't notice too much of a taste difference, but there is a slight one. Perhaps it's because soft drink companies use a different sweetener in their canned diet drinks vs. their fountain counterparts. Aspartame is used in most canned drinks, while a blend of sweeteners is used in most fountain varieties. Something about how the sweeteners' properties react with the storage of the different versions. Perhaps the poster prefers the taste of aspartame in their drinks vs. the taste of the other blends.

Speaking of sweeteners, I found some information on them while reading through news stories online today. The article (which included info from research firm BuzzMetrics) states:

"45 percent of all artificial-sweetener discussions among over 200,000 closely watched trend-setting consumers in online health and nutrition forums were negative in the fourth quarter of 2004. Specifically, 14 percent of discussions recommended using natural sweeteners instead; 13 percent warned of side effects; 11 percent advocated for limited intake; and seven percent complained of unpleasant taste. "

I guess I knew that the Internet wasn't the most diet drink-friendly place. Just do a search on any major engine and you can find all kinds of inaccurate info from "wactivists" who claim that drinking soft drinks or anything with no-calorie sweeteners will cause everything from multiple sclerosis to the third arm you have growing from your forehead. The amount of inaccurate and sensationalistic info out there is pretty ridiculous... not to mention an affront to the standards that journalists should hold themselves to. (But I'll spare you this rant for another time.) Although I knew there was ridiculous info out there, I had no idea it was such an overwhelming percentage.

If you search around the web for 10 minutes, you may begin to think me insane for my diet-drinking propensities. And perhaps my "hey- I just like the taste" excuse may not cut it for you. But I guess things aren't all bad for us calorie-conscious diet drink-lovers...

"Conversely, 42 percent of artificial-sweetener discussions were in favor of them in some way. Specifically, 19 percent discussed regular usage; 17 percent advocated their use in cooking; and six percent recommended them over natural sweeteners."

So there. At least I know I have comrades out in cyberspace somewhere. Now... what to do about this forehead/third arm predicament. This may present a small obstacle to my social life.