July 31 - PepsiCo Inc plans to introduce a drink within the next few weeks that contains a sweetener very similar to the one Coca-Cola Co has, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Pepsi's move comes a little more than a year after Coca-Cola disclosed the development of a natural sweetener that it said might start a new generation of calorie-free drinks, Wall Street Journal said.
Both sweeteners are derived from a promising but controversial herb called stevia. Neither has been formally approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the U.S. and would not necessarily replace other sweeteners, the paper reported.
As a result, Pepsi, of Purchase, N.Y., said the new SoBe Life drink will be rolled out first in several Latin American markets, starting in Peru, the Journal said.
Coke teamed with Cargill Inc to market its own stevia-based sweetener in its beverages. Coke plans to introduce a soft drink with the new sweetener in a few U.S. markets before year end, pending formal FDA approval of the sweetener, WSJ said, citing a person familiar with the company's plans.