# Restaurants and Diet Soda **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-diet-soda/477407 "2008-12-16T16:03:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-diet-soda/477407/1 "2008-12-16T16:03:11Z")
Why can’t I ever get a Diet Dr. Pepper or ANY type of clear diet soda (7up, Sprite, Fresca) at restaurants? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-diet-soda/477407/2 "2008-12-16T16:07:20Z")
Almost certainly, it’s because the demand for those items isn’t high enough. ISTM that I’d seen Diet Sprite/7Up at fast food places in the 80s … not in a while, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Buttons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Mr\_Buttons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Buttons)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-diet-soda/477407/3 "2008-12-16T16:15:40Z")
Yeah, if there’s not enough demand, the product will go bad before they use it. At the place I work, we get Pepsi products in 5 gallon bags. The soda system mixes 4 parts water w/ 1 part soda syrup. So each bag makes approx. 25 gallons of soda. The shelf life is around 6-8 months or so, and they cost about $65-80/bag. If we carried all the obscure sodas people wanted, we’d be tossing out a lot of expired product. There’s also the fact that most fountain systems have a fixed # of hookups for different brands of soda. The soda gun at our bar has enough connections for 12 sodas and 1 for water. So you need to try to decide what’s most in demand, and caffeine-free/diet clear sodas just don’t sell that well to take up 1/12th of our soda gun space. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-diet-soda/477407/4 "2008-12-16T16:16:37Z")
DDP much to my astonishment, is available in McDonald’s out here in Oregon. That was a cool discovery upon moving west. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-diet-soda/477407/5 "2008-12-16T16:21:02Z")
This is a classic example of failed American marketing. I’ve read that sugar-free sodas had passed sugared sodas in the marketplace.\* Give that most fountains have only one sugar-free choice, this implies that at stores, where more options are available, the sugar-frees are outselling the sugared ones big time. But the mentality still persists that only a few people want sugar-free drinks and so why bother carrying more of them. - In looking for a cite, I found [this](http://articles.latimes.com/2004/dec/27/business/fi-dietcoke27) which indicated they still had a ways to go as of 2004. Still looking for newer cite. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-diet-soda/477407/6 "2008-12-16T17:06:55Z")
Well, it could be that more people who want sugar-free specialty sodas are willing to make do with the standard sugar-free offering or with the full sugar version. A person who wants a diet Dr. Pepper may be willing to drink a full on Dr Pepper or a diet Coke. But people who want a full-sugar Dr. Pepper would be willing to drink neither a diet Dr. Pepper no a Coke. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-diet-soda/477407/7 "2008-12-16T17:33:41Z")
Most fountain diet soft drinks are made with different sweeteners than their canned/bottled counterparts. I like canned diet soda, but the fountain stuff tastes “off” enough to me that I’ll get a regular soda or an unsweetened iced tea. I’m sure there are other people who feel the same way. Robin ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-diet-soda/477407/8 "2008-12-16T17:40:00Z")
I agree, I like two diet choices, one with and one without Caffiene. The sugar-soda drinkers often get two of each.