Saturday, July 3, 2010

Dr Pepper orders sugar for 125th anniversary


NEW YORK — Dr Pepper is prescribing some sugar this summer in honor of its 125th anniversary, the latest in a series of temporary moves by soda makers to temporarily swap out high fructose corn syrup.

The spicy soda made by Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. is rolling out Dr Pepper "Made With Real Sugar" this weekend through early September.

Cans and bottles will feature old logos in the company's deep red, and colorful designs with lions and bright swirls of color harkening back to the 60s. Popular phrases such as "I'm a Pepper" also appear.

There are six different can designs. The company wanted to bring back the sugar version to help highlight its past, which dates to the creation of Dr Pepper by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco in 1885.

Dr Pepper declined to say if it will try out sugar in other brands such as Canada Dry, 7-Up and A&W Root Beer.

Manufacturers are testing sugar drinks as people's appetite for them increases, as some become concerned about high fructose corn syrup. Though they're nutritionally almost identical and equally caloric, some consumers believe corn syrup is less healthy than sugar.

They're also racing to come up with natural, no-calorie sweeteners and reformulate their beverages, though they haven't been able to apply that to major soft drink brands yet.

Last summer, rival PepsiCo Inc. launched real sugar versions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew, calling them "Throwback" and using old packaging designs. Pepsi Throwback was so popular the company brought it back for a brief time in the winter. It declined to say what the drink's prospects are for the future.

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