PepsiCo Inc. PEP, -1.31% will ship its new Diet Pepsi beverages to stores in the U.S. this week. The drink will now be sweetened with sucralose, the chemical used in the sweetener brand Splenda, instead of aspartame, as it struggles with flagging sales.
Diet soda sales have tumbled as consumers, turned off by studies on artificial sweeteners, have switched to bottled water, teas and energy drinks, instead. Widely reported studies have shown a correlation between cancer and aspartame consumption in rats — but not in humans.
In a statement, PepsiCo said it stands behind the safety of aspartame and will keep using it outside the U.S., but it said it would start shipping Diet Pepsi without aspartame to U.S. stores in August.