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Diet Coke Coca-Cola Zero
Debate Score:6
Arguments:11
Total Votes:6
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 Diet Coke (4)
 
 Coca-Cola Zero (2)

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Diet Coke vs. Coca-Cola Zero

When it comes to Coca-Cola products, people tend to be die-hard fans. Many of us know someone who can't go a day without a Diet Coke (or two or three). And while Diet Coke has been a leading sugar-free soft drink since it was first released in 1982, it came to light that young adult males shied away from this beverage -- identifying diet cola as a woman's drink. The company's answer to that predicament came in 2005 -- in the form of a shiny black can -- with the release of Coca-Cola Zero.

While Diet Coke was created with its own flavor profile and not as a sugar-free version of the original, Coca-Cola Zero aims to taste just like the "real Coke flavor." Despite their polar opposite advertising campaigns, the contents and nutritional information of the two sugar-free colas is nearly identical. With that information in hand we at HuffPost Taste needed to know: Which of these two artificially-sweetened Coca-Cola beverages actually tastes better? And can you even tell the difference between them?

Before we get to the results of our taste test, here are the facts:

Diet Coke


Motto:Always Great Taste

Nutritional Information: Many say that a can of Diet Coke actually contains somewhere between 1-4 calories, but if a serving size contains fewer than 5 calories a company is not obligated to note it in its nutritional information. Diet Coke's nutritional information reads 0 Calories, 0g Fat, 70mg Sodium, 0g Total Carbs, 0g Protein.

Ingredients: Carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzonate, natural flavors, citric acid, caffeine.

Artificial sweetener: Aspartame

Coca-Cola Zero

Motto: Real Coca-Cola Taste AND Zero Calories

Nutritional Information: While the label clearly advertises this beverage as a zero calorie cola, we are not entirely certain that its minimal calorie content is simply not required to be noted in the nutritional information. Coca-Cola Zero's nutritional information reads 0 Calories, 0g Fat, 70mg Sodium, 0g Total Carbs, 0g Protein.

Artificial sweetener: Aspartame and acesulfame potassium

Ingredients: Carbonated water, caramel color, phosphoric acid, aspartame, potassium benzonate, natural flavors, potassium citrate, acesulfame potassium, caffeine.

The Verdict:

Twenty-four editors blind-tasted the two cokes, side by side, and...

  • 54 percent of our tasters were able to distinguish Diet Coke from Coca-Cola Zero
  • 50 percent of our tasters preferred Diet Coke to Coca-Cola Zero, and vice versa

Here's what our tasters thought of the two sugar-free soft drinks:

Diet Coke: "Tastes fake right away." "Much fresher brighter, crisper." "Has the wonderful flavors of Diet Coke's artificial sweeteners."

Coca-Cola Zero: "Has more of a sharply sweet aftertaste I associate with diet sodas." "Tastes more like regular coke, less like fake sweetener." "Has an odd taste." "Tastes more like regular." "Very sweet."

Overall comments: "That was a lot more difficult than I though it would be." "Both equally palatable." A few people said Diet Coke tasted much better ... unbeknownst to them, they were actually referring to Coca-Cola Zero.

IN SUMMARY: It is a real toss up. There is not one artificially-sweetened Coca-Cola beverage that outshines the other. So how do people choose between one or the other? It is either a matter of personal taste, or maybe the marketing campaigns will influence their choice.

Diet Coke

Side Score: 4
VS.

Coca-Cola Zero

Side Score: 2
1 point

Both Diet coke and Coca-Colz Zero are terrible for health reasons. In Venezuela, Coke Zero is banned, for good reason.

Side: Diet Coke
shoutoutloud(4303) Clarified
1 point

I don't think they're more terrible for your health than regular coke.

Side: Diet Coke
1 point

Diet Coke hot is probably the worst soda EVERRRR!

I do enjoy a cold diet coke every once and a while but damn....

Coke Zero is pretty awesome. I've never had a hot coke zero, so maybe I am bias.

Side: Diet Coke

I prefer Diet Coke. Diet Coke has been a tried and true staple for me for years.

Side: Diet Coke
1 point

Because it does not taste like melted plastic bag .

Side: Coca-Cola Zero
Vermink(1944) Clarified
1 point

And you know what melted plastic bag tastes like???

..................

Side: Diet Coke
Nox0(1393) Clarified
1 point

I ate plastic bag once :D ....not melted, that I've added because coke is liquid :D

Side: Diet Coke

They're both the same thing in a different can, it's the same thing Pepsi did with Pepsi Max. Coke zero is designed as Pepsi max was to appeal to men that wanted to cut their sugar intake while not feeling like a big girl for buying something that said Diet on it. Just go and have a look at the advertising campaigns for both products.

Side: Coca-Cola Zero
shoutoutloud(4303) Clarified
1 point

Pepsi Max is very different from both diet coke and coca cola zero tastewise.

Side: Diet Coke
ricedaragh(2494) Disputed
1 point

I didn't say it was the same.

Side: Diet Coke