DREWspective

There are a few companies that see fit to add both sugar and at least one artificial sweetener to their products, but this time around I’m challenging Vimto to come up with a response. Vimto used to be one of the only popular squash products on the market not to contain an artificial sweetener, but a decision was made a while ago to add them to their flagship purple bottle. I haven’t bought it since.

I’m against artificial sweeteners in general because of their negative long-term effects. Although a search in your favourite search engine will turn up pages assuring you that this one is safe and that one is dangerous, bear in mind that these anonymous, self-proclaimed “experts” are probably being paid to say what they say, or at least to spread misinformation and confuse people.
Until the definitive truth is told, show these companies you won’t swallow anything they put out, and actively seek out products that don’t have some kind of artificial sweetener tacked on to them. Soya in any of its forms is another ingredient to avoid, particularly if you’re a man – more on that some other time.
In terms of squashes, I recommend Rocks Organic, Bottle Green and Ribena (who, apart from their “no added sugar” variety, have cleaned up their act).

Hello,
I used to be a big fan of Vimto, given that many products on the market have suddenly become “no added sugar” varieties, which basically means they have some kind of artificial sweetener added. However I’ve completely stopped buying your products, as I’d discovered that your regular Vimto now has sugar AND artificial sweetener in it. (I was aware that your “no added sugar” and cherry varieties had sweetener in them).
This is an issue for me because I’ve had various allergic reactions to artificial sweeteners. In particular, I’ve had headaches when exposed to sucralose, and symptoms such as depression when exposed to the most common sweetener, aspartame (or acesulfame k).
I have never understood why some companies see fit to add BOTH sugar and sweeteners to a product, but it would be great to see more products on the market that contain just sugar or cane sugar.
I would like to hear your responses to my above points.

Sadly, after the ten days they assured me I’d get a response in, I haven’t heard anything.

UPDATE: their response

Dear Drew

Thank you for your thoughts. Vimto cordial has contained saccharin for 50 years. However, recently due to consumer concerns we removed this and aspartame and moved onto a sucralose and acesulfame-k blend. This has been tested with extensive consumer research and no taste difference was found. The Government have guidelines in place with the aim of reducing the amount of sugar in food and drink products to aid the health of the nation. In order to comply with these guidelines there are a small amount of sweeteners in the Vimto cordial and almost all soft drinks on the market today. The sweeteners used in Vimto have been extensively researched and found to be safe and fit for human consumption.

Unfortunately, we do not have any current plans to change the recipe but thank you for your interest in our products.

Kind regards

Consumer Service

Wake me up when someone actually surprises me.

This week is my birthday week, and I’m going to turn 29 this year. I can already feel the arthritis in my fingers, the kink in my neck, and my vision is slightly blurry. Actually, you probably wouldn’t think I look 29 – somehow I’ve managed to retain a child-like appearance. Maybe I haven’t mentally matured?

One of my favourite Drew Maughan original quotes goes as follows:

If you forget where you came from, chances are you’ll end up going back.

Of all the quotes I’ve come up with myself, this is the one that’s rung true every single time. It’s certainly happened to me, and I’ve seen it happen to many other people throughout my life.
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A while ago I was asking myself a lot of questions about the kind of woman I’d end up with, if ever. Actually, the idea of going out with anybody has taken a back seat in recent times; even though I’ve [unsuccessfully] been to a speed dating event a couple of weeks ago, my mind has purely been on work and finances as of late. More on those questions later.

I don’t exactly remember how I got there, but a search on Google brought up this rather intriguing article, answering someone who asked whether they had any tips for fat guys to get laid.
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Recently I’ve been curious about an ongoing trend with companies referring to people as consumers rather than customers.

I used to think it was because businesses no longer had any respect for people who bought their products and services. It conjures up images of people buying products, sitting on their fat arses and guzzling whatever a company can throw at them, being too stupid to realise what they’re doing. (Kinda sounds like an iFad person, doesn’t it?)

However, a short article on the web site ConsumerPop explains the difference very well:

• a customer purchases items from a company;
• a consumer purchases and uses items from a company.

In a nutshell, “consumers” are actually the end users: people who buy products to use them. Therefore not all customers are “consumers”.

I just wish they could have thought of a better name for “consumers”.