Coca-Cola has proclaimed that it is adding a new sweetener - stevia - in UK Sprite, in a reaction to the Coalition’s push, calling on companies to address obesity. Coca-Cola’s stevia UK Sprite will have 30 percent fewer calories. Sprite Zero, which is devoid of any calorific ingredient, will also be made available in the UK. Coca-Cola also implemented a similar move with France in 2012.

Food makers have been attempting to employ the non-calorific sweetener to diminish the calories. The announcement, regarding Coca-Cola’s stevia UK Sprite, came ahead of the telecast of Coca-Cola’s anti-obesity TV advertisement in the UK. The Coca-Cola anti-obesity TV ad initially was broadcast in January in the US amid intensifying criticisms over the role that sodas are playing in heightening obesity in kids and adults.

Next week, New York City in the US will enact a prohibition on sugary drinks, bigger than 16 ounces, in movie theatres, restaurants and other public venues.

In the Coca-Cola anti-obesity TV ad, there is a narrator, who expresses that obesity “concerns all of us.” The commercial also voices that weight gain is the consequence of consuming excessive calories of any type, not just soda.

A Coca-Cola spokeswoman has uttered that the Coca-Cola anti-obesity TV ad will spread to other nations gradually throughout the year. As per the spokeswoman, the company is still evaluating whether to introduce the stevia Sprite in the US.

Nonetheless, Coca-Cola has already been experimenting with diminished-calorie editions of Fanta and Sprite in select US markets. These editions consist of stevia.

Coca-Cola’s decision to introduce the ‘stevia’ sweetener in the UK Sprite will be welcomed by anti-obesity campaigners globally and in the UK.