Still As Life

So you’ve got your normal V, then theres your sugar free variety, aptly called “V Sugar Free”.

This variety of V actually tastes very much like the regular stuff. Like any sugar free variant, it does taste somewhat worse than the original, but it’s not much worse.

They are currently $2.20 a can at Coles and are available individually or in 4 packs. V Sugar Free is also available in a 35oml bottle.

Theres not much more I can say about it really. It’s not a bad drink, it’s not a good drink. Is it healthier? Good question. I say no, it is worse for you than the regular stuff. I will explain why after the ingredients list below.

V Sugar Free Nutritional Information

The label indicates the following per 100ml:

This is identical to that of the regular V, and also very similar to Coles Zu Sublime Energy Drink.

V Sugar Free has the standard warning not to drink more than 2 cans per day.

V Sugar Free Ingredients

The ingredients according to the can are as follows:

Carbonated water, sugar, acidity regulators (citric acid, sodium citrate), taurine, guarana extract (0.12%), sweeteners (acesulfame potassium, aspartame), colour (caramel (derived from wheat)), glucuronolactone, caffeine, inositol, thickener (xanthan gum) vitamins (niacin (B3), pantothenic acid, B6, B2, B12), flavours. Contains phenylalanine.

So why do I believe that the sugar free variant of V is worse for you than regular V?

You may have noticed the little warning at the end of the ingredients, contains phenylalanine. This is because one of the artificial sweeteners used in place of the sugar, aspartame, is a source of phenylalanine. Now, is phenylalanine bad? No, it’s a naturally occurring amino acid. It’s in proteins and meats and so on. However, according to 3DChem, aspartame has roughly the same amount of calories as regular table sugar. So, you are getting the same amount of calories, it’s just not sugar. In addition to that, there are health problems linked to aspartame, particularly related to people with PKU (phenylketonurics) and diabetics. It seems that there are also a lot of diseases that are related to aspartame, there is a fair amount of information about this on sweetpoison.com, it’s definitely worth a read if you are interested in finding out more about aspartame.

The Aspartame Information Center is adamant that the synthetic chemical is safe. While that may be so, I personally think that the amount of it that can be found in diet drinks would be cause to make it unsafe if continually ingested in those sorts of quantities on a regular basis and is thus why I generally avoid drinking diet drinks, as I said, earlier, it’s around the same amount of calories, so there is no benefit to it in my opinion (plus diet drinks generally taste worse). It’s up to you to decide what you think about it though and do more of your own research into it.

Further reading on aspartame and phenylalanine:

• Sweet Poison
• Wikipedia - Phenylalanine
• What is PKU?
• 3DChem
• Aspartame Information Center

V Sugar Free Ratings

Quantity - 250ml
2.5/5

Price - $2.20
3/5

Flavour
1/5

Overall
2/5

Popularity: 58% [?]