DREWspective

I’ve finally gotten around to it, but after six/seven years of membership I’ve finally deleted my DeviantArt account.

Unlike some other sites (such as OkCupid, and many sites that can only be described as worthless), I wasn’t dumped back on the front page with no goodbye message. (That kind of treatment is purely rude.) Instead, I got the above prompt, which was appreciated on my end.

But it doesn’t make up for my reasons for leaving, which were long-felt sentiments about the site and the way it was run.
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Despite my attempts to promote the auction, there were 219 views but no watchers and no bids. Can’t say I was surprised, to be honest.
However, I’ve listed the AnDREWid on Etsy for anyone who wants to buy it. All the proceds will still go to Kidscape, although it’s a fixed price now.

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.

I’ve finally listed my creation – called the AnDREWid – on feeBay, to raise money for Kidscape (one of my designated charities).

All the proceeds from the auction will be going to Kidscape. I’m doing this as part of my goal to raise £100,000 for charity through my work, which sounds ambitious but is something to work towards.

If you’ve got some time, help to spread the word about the auction by tweeting, sharing etc. the auction page.