USA: Coke to sell drinks with stevia, Pepsi holds off

. WASHINGTON / The Washington Post / The Associated Press / December 15, 2008 NEW YORK - Coca-Cola Co. will begin selling products made with a new zero-calorie sweetener despite no official nod from the government, but rival PepsiCo Inc. said Monday it won't follow suit. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to determine that sweetener made from the herb stevia is "generally regarded as safe," but the agency's sign-off has taken longer than expected. Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo has two drinks made with stevia ready for market: a version of SoBe LifeWater and Trop 50, an orange juice product. But Chief Executive Indra Nooyi said PepsiCo won't begin selling the drinks until the FDA makes its official decision. Meanwhile, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola is expected this week to begin selling three flavors of an Odwalla juice drink sweetened with stevia, The Wall Street Journal reports. A spokesman for Coca-Cola declined to comment. Nooyi said sweeteners like those made with stevia are key in reversing the sales decline of carbonated soft drinks, or CSDs. Two versions of a stevia-based beverage sweetener have been developed by Coke and Pepsi. Both Pepsi's PureVia and Coke's Truvia, marketed by Cargill, are made from rebiana, a stevia-based extract. Click to read full text © Copyright 1996-2008 The Washington Post Company