Fruit-Flavored Diet Soda Alternatives Without The Carbonation
It’s hard to figure out what’s happening with the FUZE line of beverages, unless you spend a lot of time on the website. Some flavors have sugar, some don’t, even within the same line. All come in almost-identical colorful bottles with fruit graphics—that’s the company branding, but it’s not clean enough to tell the lines apart immediately. All the flavor names start to sound the same. While lines and flavors are always in a flux, let’s write it down for the moment:
The Refresh line has 90 to 100 calories per bottle, and is made in Banana Coconut, Peach Mango, Strawberry Banana and Strawberry Guava.
The Tea line has 60 calories in the sugar flavors (Green Tea, Orange Blossom White Tea, Oolong Tea) and zero calories in the diet flavors (Diet Orange Ginger Green Tea, Diet Pomegranate White Tea).
The Slenderize line has no sugar added and is just 10 to 20 calories per bottle, in Blueberry Raspberry, Cranberry Raspberry, Dragonfruit Lime, Strawberry Melon, Tangerine Grapefruit and Tropical Punch.
The Vitalize line has sugar, 100 calories a bottle, and is available in Blackberry Grape, Fruit Punch and Orange Mango.
Given all of the fake-tasting diet beverages out there, the Fuze lines are uplifting in a variety of ways. First, we’re getting some added nutrients. FUZE, established in 2001, was the first mover in the category of functional beverages, adding essential vitamins to the mix. One should not seek to get one’s nutrients from a soft drink, but we like the added value. The FUZE Slenderize line contains chromium, a trace mineral that boosts energy; vitamin C, an antioxidant “essential for vision, growth and healthy skin”; Super Citrimax™, an herbal extract naturally derived from the garcinia cambogia fruit of India, whose non-FDA-approved claims include appetite suppressant and reduction of the conversion of carbs into fat; and L-carnitine, an amino acid that boosts energy through more efficient utilization of oxygen.
We love the “come to the tropics,” brightly colored fruit-themed bottles, which are much needed since the contents inside are pale—some flavors as pallid as lemonade since the all-natural ingredients profile precludes artificial coloring. But of course, the reason Slenderize is a NIBBLE pick is because it tastes good! So, taste them all to find your favorites.
The products are made with 5% juice from concentrate plus added natural flavors. They’re sweetened with acesulfame potassium (Ace-K) and sucralose (the base of the sweetener Splenda®), a combination that is sweeter and more natural-tasting than sucralose alone.
We couldn’t sign off without mentioning our favorite FUZE product, the Diet Pomegranate White Tea. We so rarely come across it, that when we do, we deplete the shelf of every bottle. Perhaps other people do the same, which is why we so rarely find it. The next time you see it, please leave a few bottles for us, and we’ll try to remember to do the same for you.
FUZE DIET SOFT DRINKS
Slenderize Healthy Infusions in Blueberry Raspberry, Cranberry Raspberry, Dragonfruit Lime, Strawberry Melon, Tangerine Grapefruit and Tropical Punch
Certified Kosher by The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
18-Ounce Bottle
Suggested Retail Price
$1.89
For a retailer near you, visit
DrinkFuze.com
Three of the 6 flavors of FUZE Slenderize.
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