For a festival food shop where reducing sugar matters, compare the sugars figure on each drink rather than relying on “diet” or “zero” in its name. Tesco listings for several zero-sugar colas and Sprite Zero Sugar show 0g sugars in their stated servings, but its Fanta Zero Sugar Orange multipack lists 2.0g per 330ml can despite being labelled zero added sugar. If you also want to avoid caffeine, check the exact variant; sugar-free fizz remains acidic, so include water alongside it.
If you are buying familiar fizzy drinks to share with festival food, compare the sugars figure on the exact pack. The NHS suggests sugar-free, diet or no-added-sugar drinks as alternatives to sugary fizzy drinks when cutting down on sugar.
A no-sugar cola does not necessarily meet a caffeine-free requirement. Choose a variant explicitly labelled caffeine free and check its ingredients.
Orange, apple and lemon-lime options give you alternatives to cola. If a drink contains fruit juice, check its sugars figure even when the front of the pack says zero added sugar.
Start with the exact drink and serving size, then choose a flavour and pack format that work for the group.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Sugars and labels | Read sugars per serving and per 100ml on the exact pack. Where traffic-light labelling appears, use it to compare products, not as a substitute for the nutrition information. | I want to compare drinks without treating “zero added sugar” as “0g sugars”. In the Food Standards Agency and Ipsos Northern Ireland’s 2024 survey of 611 people interviewed between September and November, 49% said they actively used traffic-light labels when shopping for food. |
| Caffeine | Look for an explicit caffeine-free label and check the ingredients. Tesco listings distinguish Pepsi MAX No Caffeine from Pepsi MAX and Dr Pepper Zero, which list caffeine. | For a caffeine-free choice, I need the specific variant to say so; a no-sugar label alone does not answer that question. |
| Flavour | Choose between cola, lemon-lime and fruit flavours. For fruit-juice drinks, check sugars on the particular variant: Tesco lists 2.0g per 330ml can for its Fanta Zero Sugar Orange multipack. | I would rather serve a fruit or citrus flavour than cola, but still want to know what the sugars figure means for that drink. |
| Serving format | Compare the number and size of cans with the volume of a sharing bottle. Think about how drinks will be carried, stored and served. | Individual cans may make serving a group simpler; a large bottle works if we have cups and somewhere to keep it. |
| Acidity | Keep water available alongside fizzy drinks. Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust notes that sugar-free fizz is still acidic and can contribute to tooth erosion. | I want a flavoured option with the food, without treating sugar-free fizz as equivalent to water for teeth. |
A drink containing fruit juice can have naturally occurring sugars. Tesco lists 2.0g sugars per 330ml can for its Fanta Zero Sugar Orange multipack, which is labelled zero added sugar.
Compare the sugars figures per 100ml or per serving on the drinks you are considering.
Tesco’s Pepsi MAX and Dr Pepper Zero listings include caffeine; Pepsi MAX No Caffeine is a distinct variant.
If avoiding caffeine matters, look for an explicit caffeine-free label on the exact pack.
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust notes that sugar-free fizzy drinks remain acidic and can contribute to tooth erosion.
Include water in the drinks shop as well as any fizzy options you want with the food.
These examples describe particular drinks and pack listings, not every product made by each brand.
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is a cola option available in a 2L bottle in the cited Tesco listing.
Pepsi MAX and Pepsi MAX No Caffeine offer different cola variants in the cited Tesco listings.
Sprite Zero Sugar provides a lemon-lime alternative to cola.
Fanta Zero Sugar Orange is a fruit-flavour option whose listed sugars figures depend on the pack and serving.
Dr Pepper Zero offers a different flavour from standard cola in the cited 2L Tesco listing.
These canned multipacks cover cola, lemon-lime and apple-flavour choices for serving with festival food. Compare the exact pack labels for sugars, caffeine and ingredients before choosing.
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A canned cola option for a group when avoiding caffeine matters. The pack contains 24 × 330ml cans; check its sugars and ingredients information on the exact pack.
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A cola multipack for serving drinks individually with a group meal. It contains 24 × 330ml cans; choose the separately named caffeine-free variant if avoiding caffeine is essential.
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A zero-sugar-labelled cola option for individually served drinks with food. The multipack contains 24 × 330ml cans; check the exact label if caffeine avoidance matters.
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A lemon-lime option if the group would prefer something other than cola. This pack contains 24 × 330ml cans; check its sugars and caffeine labelling on the exact variant.
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An apple-flavour choice for a group that would rather have fruit-flavour fizz than cola. The pack contains 24 × 330ml cans; check the exact ingredients if avoiding caffeine matters.
No. Check the sugars figure on the exact pack: Tesco’s Fanta Zero Sugar Orange multipack is labelled zero added sugar but lists 2.0g sugars per 330ml can and contains fruit juice.
Look for a variant explicitly labelled caffeine free, such as Pepsi MAX No Caffeine. Tesco’s separate Pepsi MAX listing includes caffeine, so the variant name matters.
Include water as a separate option. Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust notes that sugar-free fizz remains acidic and can contribute to tooth erosion.
Where displayed, they help you compare labelled nutrient amounts at a glance, as GOV.UK explains. Check the serving size, sugars figure and ingredients as well, particularly when comparing different drink formats.