Pepsi Raw
Here’s something interesting I just saw this morning: Pepsi launches ‘healthy’ option. This drink, called Pepsi Raw, “is said to be made from natural ingredients and contain no artificial preservatives, colours, flavourings or sweeteners.”

The calorie content of a 300ml bottle is 117 compared to 126 for normal Pepsi.

Pepsi Raw has only natural ingredients including apple extract, plain caramel colouring, coffee leaf, tartaric acid from grapes, gum arabic from acacia trees, cane sugar and sparkling water. It is paler in colour and less fizzy than other cola brands.

Someone, somewhere, thinks those 9 calories saved is a big deal. I can’t really argue that this is a “better option” than the chemical cocktail of regular soft drinks (Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sugar, phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid, natural flavors). That doesn’t make it a good option, just a better option, similar to how smoking a half pack of cigarettes a day is a “better option” than smoking a whole pack every day.

All of the calories in regular Pepsi are sugar and I’m assuming that the Pepsi Raw is the same, so let’s breakdown the nutrition facts.

Pepsi vs. Pepsi Raw

  Pepsi Pepsi Raw
Calories 126 117
Grams of Sugar 31.5 29.25
Tsp of Sugar 7.5 6.96


So we’re looking at a half a teaspoon difference in the amount of sugar. But keep in mind that’s the British size of 300ml, or a little over 10oz. A US size of 12oz is about 18% larger, bringing us to 8.85 tsp of sugar in Pepsi and 8.2 tsp in Pepsi Raw. But then again, most of us here in the US are downing the 20oz size like hot cakes, which adds another 66% to the sugar count, bringing the Pepsi to 14.8 tsp and Pepsi Raw to 13.7. So it looks like going on up to the 20oz version saves a teaspoon of sugar. And yes, I’m a math geek.

Another article on the same topic states:

Pepsi said it was not marketing Pepsi Raw as a health drink. “We’re not saying it’s healthier,” a spokeswoman said. “It’s a premium drink for people who like natural products.”

While Pepsi may not be marketing it as such, calling it “all-natural” is going to make people believe that it’s a more healthful option. But you have the media using the “healthy” word right there in the title of their articles. Even if Pepsi isn’t using it, the media is! Just remember that organic/natural junk food is still junk food.

Photo courtesy of US Patent and Trademark Office


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