• The New York Times, Wednesday, March 7, 2007 11:45 AM

In coming months, Coca-Cola will release Diet Coke Plus and PepsiCo will bring out a similar beverage, Tava, but neither will be promoted as soft drinks--a category that has been tarnished by its association with obesity. Call them "sparkling beverages," please.

Both new drinks are fortified with vitamins and minerals. Tava--lightly carbonated and offering exotic flavors--will contain vitamins B3, B6 and E and chromium. Diet Coke Plus will contain niacin, vitamins B6 and B12, magnesium and zinc.

Fortified sodas will most likely remain a niche, says John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest. But he predicts sales of diet soft drinks overall will increase in coming years with improved marketing, better taste and new products.

Coca-Cola CEO E. Neville Isdell insisted at a recent conference that his diet products should be included in the health and wellness category because, with few or no calories, they are a logical answer to expanding waistlines. But Tom Pirko, president of Bevmark, says it's "a joke" to market artificially sweetened soft drinks as healthy.

Read the whole story at The New York Times »