The greatest debate exists throughout the world in everyone’s local grocery store, Diet soda or regular soda? The question has plagued society ever since its conception in 1958. Most people see diet as a healthier alternative to regular soda, but is it more popular than regular soda, and do people actually drink it because it’s healthier?
Soda has been around since the 16th century, but became more popular in the 1700s’ when sweeteners and flavor was added to the soda. Then in 1886 the first Coca-Cola drink came out, which after a few tweeks, was a huge hit with the global market and soon many more big soda companies popped into existence; Pepsi and Dr. Pepper were big hitters as well.
The first diet soda came about in 1958 by The Kirsch Bottling Company of Brooklyn which was a sugar-free version of their normal ginger ale, but the diet soda craze wasn’t apparent until Coca-Cola Company released Tab, their version of a diet soda. After the release, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper rushed to make their first diet sodas in 1963.
After years of diet soda being throughout the American market, people began to realize that diet soda isn’t as good as companies make it seem. For example, senior Sawyer Wonch claimed that he had preferred regular soda because of how, “Diet soda replacements for sugar is a ton of chemicals, and it makes it more likely for diabetes to become present.” Other sources claim that it may even be much worse: sources like the Mayo Clinic and Hospitals United.
However, the question still remains: which do people prefer? According to the students at St. Louis High School, regular soda is dominant with 13/15 students preferring it over diet. Despite the advantage of diet being a “healthier” drink, students still prefer the sugary taste of regular soda.
