Coffee sweetener choices explained
- col-bobbie-randall
- April 3, 2025
- 555
Enjoying a hot cup of coffee with someone dear to you is always a treat. Hailee is a tender person with a heart of gold. She is as sweet as they come, a treasured friend.
The worn white coffee cups at the diner sang with the rattle of our spoons as we swirled the aromatic liquid. I scooped a few ice cubes from my water glass with my spoon. Hailee reached for the assortment of sweeteners to add to her drink.
As I was gingerly sipping my now lukewarm coffee, Hailee chose a pink packet of artificial sweetener. Then she ripped open a second packet and added it. She noticed a look of surprise on my face because she immediately began to justify her selection.
She said her dear grandmother always added two pink packs to her coffee, no matter how large the cup was. She said that was what made it taste so good. After a healthy splash of a creamer and a swift twirl of her spoon, she was ready to enjoy a sip.
I explained the pink packet of saccharin was discovered in the late 1800s. It made its marketing debut during World War I when sugar was rationed. It gained more popularity when World War II caused sugar to be in short supply. Her grandmother must have started to habitually add it to her coffee during the 1940s.
With the arrival of newer and sweeter sugar substitutes such as the blue packet, the yellow packet and the green packet, the pink packet has taken a back seat in the world of artificial sweeteners. It has survived an unfounded cancer risk and intense marketing campaigns from competitors.
Because of the often-bitter aftertaste of the pink packet, the blue, yellow and green packets have flooded the market. Most consumers of pink pack saccharin are over 70 years old because of habit and the refusal to change the taste of their beloved coffee.
Forty-year-old Hailee admitted putting two pink packs of sweetener in her coffee reminds her of drinking a cup of java with Granny. She has grown accustomed to the familiar taste.
There are multiple pros and cons regarding each color packet of artificial sweetener. Nutritionists are frequently asked which one is good for you and which is the worst to consume. Multiple studies and articles have been produced to answer those questions. There is no “one-size-fits-all” answer to reply.
I was surprised when two pink packs were torn into her small cup of coffee. Hailee did not fit the geriatric stereotype to me. Adding saccharin was a matter of a cherished tasteful and aromatic memory with her grandmother, no matter what I believed it tasted like.
We laughed about her sweet choice. I told her that since diabetes strongly runs in her family, using an artificial sweetener instead of two packets of sugar (the white pack) was to her advantage. She actually doesn’t even need an added sweetener. She is already sweet enough for me, but don’t expect me to add saccharin to my coffee.
Bobbie Randall is a registered, licensed dietitian. Email her at bobbierandallrd@gmail.com.