Diet Coke
Diet Coke does not use a modified form of the Coca-Cola recipe, but instead an entirely different formula. The controversial New Coke, introduced in 1985, used a version of the Diet Coke recipe that contained high fructose corn syrup and had a slightly different balance of ingredients. In 2004, Coca-Cola introduced Coca-Cola C2, which it claims tastes much closer to Coca-Cola but contains half the carbohydrates. In 2005, the company introduced Coca-Cola Zero (replaced by "Coca-Cola Zero Sugar" in 2017), a sugar-free variation of regular Coca-Cola.
Public relations of high fructose corn syrup
PepsiCo recently put forth a "throwback" version of Mountain Dew and Pepsi-Cola, designed to taste the same as these drinks did in the 1960s and 1970s. One aspect of the formulation is that sugar is used instead of HFCS. PepsiCo stated that HFCS and sugar are "essentially the same" and that the only reason HFCS was eschewed was in order to accurately reflect the taste of the past. Dr Pepper also released a "heritage" version of Dr Pepper Soda in 2009 that was made to the original formula and used beet sugar instead of HFCS. Since its establishment in 1891, the Dr Pepper bottling plant in Dublin, TX has continued to use the original formula sweetened with Imperial Cane Sugar (see Dublin Dr Pepper). In addition, the Coca-Cola bottling plant in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, and most Coca-Cola bottling plants in Europe also uses sucrose. Sucrose-based Mexican imports of Coca-Cola and other soft drinks are getting increasing penetration into US markets.