Mountain Dew & Pepsi Throwback

High Fructose Corn Syrup is killing the country! There, I said it, I feel better. If you look carefully, you will find the insidious HFCS in just about every processed food we eat, and also in many places where you wouldn't think it would even be warranted. The reason is simple; the government subsidizes the corn farming industry which means, to be economically viable, a huge amount of farms have converted their previously varied crops to purely corn, much of which ends up as animal feed, and even more of which ends up as an industrial waste product; high fructose corn syrup. Because there is so much corn, and therefore so much HCFS, it becomes the least expensive option for food manufacturers to use to sweeten their products. All this is fine and good except for the fact that HCFS was never intended for human consumption and has been linked with all manner of health problems from diabetes to heart disease and stroke. Now I'm not going to tell you that you should cut all HCFS out of your diet or you will get the diabetes and lose a leg, but there should at least be an optional alternative out there. Well, at least for the time being, Pepsi is presenting such an option; their new Throwback soft drink lines. Harkening back to the label design and recipes in the early eighties, before HCFS consumption was compulsory in this country. These recipes occlude corn syrup and instead use real sugar.

First, naturally, I tried Mountain Dew Throwback, alongside a traditional Mountain Dew. The traditional is cloudier and lighter in color while the Throwback is clearer and darker, though they have a similar effervescence.

The Throwback is sweeter, despite containing less sugar. This is because it takes considerably more high fructose corn syrup to taste as sweet as sugar on the human tongue.

In a blind taste test, I found the Throwback to be much more to my liking. It was fresher tasting, more citrusy, and sweeter where the traditional had a more muted flavor.

Next I compared Pepsi Throwback with traditional Pepsi. They are identical in color and bubbles and have an identical mouthfeel. The Throwback is sweeter tasting on the back end, even though it has one less gram of sugar per serving; however the traditional Pepsi is sharper and fresher tasting. The differences are subtle as these beverages taste almost identical. In a blind taste test, I preferred the taste of traditional Pepsi for the same reasons I preferred the Mountain Dew Throwback.

In fairness, I should remark that I prefer Coca-Cola to Pepsi, and have had the distinct pleasure of having Coke imported from south of the border where it is made with sugar, not HFCS, and the taste is leaps and bounds better than our domestic brew. I can only hope that Coke takes the hint from Pepsi; people don't want HFCS in everything they eat or drink, sugar is not a bad word. I can only hope that the Throwback is here to stay. I, for one, and I know I'm not alone in this, would rather pay more for a better quality product than continue drinking and eating food with the cheapest possible garbage ingredients in them. Fight for your food!