Dive Brief:
- General Mills says it will remove the aspartame in its Yoplait Light yogurt blends and replace it with sucralose.
- The move comes after sales of Yoplait Light fell in the double-digits -- a drop that the company blames on consumer concerns over aspartame.
- General Mills made a similar move with its full-calorie blends by replacing high-fructose corn syrup with sugar. Sales of that brand rose after the switch.
Dive Insight:
This is a tough time to be in the aspartame business. The artificial sweetener, best-known under the brand names NutraSweet and Equal, is under siege from consumers who fear the stuff. Of course it's also not an easy time to be in the sucralose business. Consumers are wary of that artificial sweetener too, although less so than with aspartame.