When I went to the store this weekend, I got one of those good kinds of surprises... they had a big display of my favorite beverage, Dr Pepper, in a special promotion where they went back to their original formula, using pure cane sugar instead of that High-Fructose Corn Syrup crap.

If you've never tasted the difference side-by-side, it's VERY noticeable. The sugar version is just so much smoother and better tasting than the harsher HFCS version. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, ALL soft-drinks are empty calories and bad for you. But when I do decide to indulge (which is less and less frequently), I would much rather it not be made with that HFCS stuff.

So here it is!



Note it also comes in special extra-tall 16oz cans, instead of the usual 12oz cans, and the graphics on the can are all cool and retro.

I'm glad they're giving us a choice, but you can immediately see why all the soft-drinks switched to HFCS many years back the moment you get to the cash register. Ounce-for-ounce, it's about twice as expensive for the pure cane sugar version. $6.99 for the 12-pack of 16oz cans, vs. $2.99 for a 12 pack of 12oz cans. Yikes! But I bought a 12-pack anyway, just to support companies that are waking up and trying to test the waters about removing HFCS from their products.

Now here's where I go from feeling excited to feeling guilty: next to the Dr Pepper display they had a display of Oreos that were made with all organic flour and pure cane sugar, with no trans-fats. Yup, I bought some of those too, even though I *never* buy Oreos, and really don't need the extra calories. And you know what? They taste noticeably better. But once again, twice the price (only this time they kept the price the same, but only put half as many in the package). Yeesh.