Pepsi Throwback

On Saturday while picking up some weekend food at Food Lion I purchased a 12-pack of Pepsi Throwback.

In case you've missed the 70's Soul Train themed commercials that have been running the past month, Throwback is a temporary formulation of Pepsi (and Mountain Dew) that uses regular sugar instead of HFCS (high fructose corn syrup).

I've never been a fan of the high government subsidies of corn production so any move towards limiting the use of corn products is good news to me. Manufacturers use HFCS because it's cheap, and it's cheap because the government (ie taxpayers) keeps the price of corn artificially low with subsidies to the farming community, especially large agricultural giants like ConAgra and ADM.

Ever since reading about the environmental and physiological problems associated with the use of HFCS in Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma I've wanted to limit my dietary intake of the stuff. But alas, my love of soda hasn't been easy to curb. Pepsi Throwback is the solution!

I just drank my first can of the Pepsi Throwback today at lunch. That's my workplace laptop in the background in the two pictures here. I'm glad to report that the Throwback soda tastes better than regular Pepsi. It's a less harsh taste to me. Softer edges, is the thought that came to my mind as I took that first sip.


I've read some accounts that the carbonation is stronger in Throwback but to me the opposite seemed true. Personally I like a lot of bubbles, but I'm willing to give some up for the more pleasant taste of the Pepsi Throwback. I hope that it stays on the market--and that I can find it in 2 liter bottles as well. The 12-pack cost me $3.99; it wasn't on sale and it's very unusual for me to buy soda at the regular price!

Here's the Pepsi Throwback website if you want the poop straight from the corporate mouth. Complete with spin and double talk, no doubt.

Comments

kenju said…
Pepsi tastes like perfume to me.
Teresa said…
Andrew has spent the last few years complaining about the HFCS issue and even switched to diet versions of soft drinks. He still buys some of the premium sodas that have real sugar in it, but mostly he's given up regular sodas. Now, he mostly fusses about which artificial sweetener is being used. But he has tried the Throwback and liked it. He says that sugar varieties are never as carbonated as HFCS versions -- he thinks it's something to do with suspending the bubbles in the syrup... As someone who doesn't handle sugar well in any form, I haven't tried it, but do try to avoid the HFCS when I do use regular sweeteners. It's nice to have the choice -- most prepared foods and beverages don't give you that.

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