Banks DIH, yesterday launched Coca Cola Light which is similar to regular Coca Cola but has artificial sweetening.
The product was launched at the company’s Thirst Park complex. Marketing Director, George McDonald, told Stabroek News that the product was in the making for sometime but the company had only now gotten the opportunity to launch it.
“Prior to now we just didn’t have enough capacity on our existing plant to get it off the ground, we have got the capacity now and that has cost us over US$500,000 to get it going.
We have put in new trucks, plant and equipment and of course we have created new jobs as a consequence of this new addition,” McDonald said.
According to McDonald the new product is meant for everyone “it is exactly what it says, it is a light product, it has no sugar and .... less than one calorie a serving, a serving size being eight ounces.”
He said while it does not have any sugar it has the same Coca Cola taste explaining that it contains the artificial sweetener aspartame.
“That is good enough for anybody, anybody can consume Coca Cola Light,” he said.
The marketing director pointed out that the new product is not ‘Diet Coke’ adding that diet coke is more or less restricted to people who are diabetic and those who want to lose weight.
Diabetics can also consume the new product since the American Diabetes Association has stated that aspartame is a safe sugar substitute and can be included in a diabetic meal plan. Diabetics should however be guided by medical advice.