Pepsi Tests New Storm with Ace-K

Light Storm— a new zero-calorie version of Storm, Pepsi-Cola North America's (Purchase, NY) lemon-lime soft drink— soon will begin hitting store shelves. Like the original Storm, Light Storm is lightly carbonated and contains caffeine (at the same level as a cola) and other natural flavors. It is just the second major carbonated soft drink in the U.S. to use acesulfame potassium as one of its sweeteners. The company also uses the sweetener in Pepsi One, which it launched in the U.S. in October 1998.

Acesulfame-K is a non-nutritive sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than sucrose. It tends to be more stable than other high-intensity sweeteners when exposed to high temperatures. This can be an advantage in beverages that are pasteurized. This sweetener also is stable in aqueous solutions. When stored at room temperature for several months in solutions at beverage pH ranges, research has shown the sweetener had little or no change in acesulfame-K concentration.

When used at high concentrations, acesulfame-K may contribute a slight aftertaste. Because it has a synergistic sweetening effect with other sweeteners, using a blend can improve the product's flavor. Pepsi One, for example, contains both acesulfame-K and aspartame.

According to the Pepsi's consumer home-use tests, more than 70% of those who tried Light Storm said they would buy the product again. In blind taste tests, consumers preferred Light Storm to Diet Sprite 57% to 43%.

Light Storm will be available in 11 test markets including Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo), Las Vegas, Lincoln/Omaha, Milwaukee and Northern California (Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose). These markets have been testing Storm since July 1998, except for Colorado, where it was first launched in March 1998.