Pepsi-Cola USA and Coca-Cola Co. Tuesday announced they have decided to use corn syrup as the sole sweetner in some of their most popular soft drinks.
In Purchase, N.Y., Pepsi-Cola USA -- a division of Pepsico Inc. - said it has raised the level of high fructose corn syrup to 100 percent for brand Pepsi-Cola and regular Pepsi Free in bottles, cans and fountain syrup.
Pepsi's approved corn syrup levels for bottled and canned soft drinks had been at 50 percent since April 1983 and at 80 percent for fountain syrup since September 1983.
In Atlanta, Coca-Cola's domestic soft drink division said it will use 100 percent corn syrup as the sweetner for bottled and canned Coca-Cola and caffeine-free Coca-Cola.
In May, Coca-Cola boosted the amount of corn syrup used in fountain syrup for Coca-Cola to 100 percent.
The tilt to corn syrup bouyed stocks of corn millers, such as A.E. Staley Manufacturing Co., American Maize Products Co., and Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., which rose on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday.
On Nov. 1, Pepsi-Cola announced it would drop saccharine and use only the artificial sweetner NutraSweet, or aspartame, in all its diet sodas.
Pepsi-Cola President Roger Enrico expressed the hope that the switch would catapult his company into the top sales spot in the $5 billion diet soft drink industry.
Coca-Cola ranks No. 1 in the diet drink market, but Pepsi-Cola is the largest overall marketer of soda drinks. Seven-Up is No. 3 in both diet and non-diet soft drinks.
Pepsi-Cola said it had done extensive testing on corn syrup as a sweetener and concluded that its use would allow the company to maintain the quality and taste of both Pepsi-Cola and Pepsi Free.
Pepsi-Cola also said that the complete conversion to corn syrup, which costs less than conventional sugar, would provide 'significant economic benefits' for its bottlers.
A Pepsi-Cola spokesman said 'it is too early to tell' whether consumer could reap any savings from the company's decision to go 100 percent with high fructose corn syrup.
'We don't comment on wholesale prices,' the Pepsi-Cola spokesman said. 'It's proprietary information.'
Pepsi-Cola said the shift to corn syrup is not likely to have a 'significant impact' on Pepsico's corporate profits.
