Another new Coke: Coca-Cola cutting sweetness in Canada

The Real Thing will soon be the less sweet thing–at least in Canada.

Coca-Cola is getting an eight per cent calorie cut in Canada, which will bring its sweetness in line with how the beverage tastes elsewhere in the world, the company said Tuesday.

Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada is also tweaking the size of bottles and cans.

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``As part of our efforts to lower calories and provide consumers with smaller packages, we are adjusting the concentration of the syrup to be consistent with the ratio used around the world,'' Shannon Denny, director of brand and business communications for Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada, said.

Denny said the company was beginning to make the product with the newly adjusted syrup ratio on Tuesday. It's expected to be in stores in the coming weeks.

She said Canada's Coca-Cola has been sweeter compared to other markets since it went into production in 1906.

Coca-Cola is shrinking the dimensions of its most popular bottle size by 15 per cent, from 591 millilitres to 500 ml. There will also be a sleeker 310-ml can, which will be in stores as early as March.

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Availability of its smaller 222-ml mini-cans and 237-ml glass bottles will also be boosted.

Soft drink makers have come under fire over their role in fuelling obesity. Adult obesity has reached epidemic proportions with 66 per cent of the Canadian adult population either overweight or obese.

Canada's Food Guide recommends limiting the intake of soft drinks and other sweetened beverages.

Soft drink sales have also been falling. For the 52 weeks to Sept. 20, flavoured soft drink sales in Canada fell two per cent in dollars and four per cent in volume.