| abstract |
Beverage products are provided, e.g., a ready to drink cola beverage or a cola beverage concentrate or syrup, including water or carbonated water, acidulant comprising at least one acid, rebaudioside D present in a sweetening amount, and flavoring comprising cola flavoring. Rebaudioside D may be the only sweetener, or alternatively the beverage product further contains one or more additional sweeteners, for example rebaudioside A and/or other high intensity sweetener(s). Rebaudioside D optionally provides at least 10% of the total sweetening of the beverage product according to certain embodiments. Also, a natural carbonated cola beverage product and a beverage product are each provided containing a sweetening amount of rebaudioside D. The rebaudioside D ingredient used in certain methods of making the beverage products disclosed here optionally has a purity, i.e., a rebaudioside D concentration, of 93% or greater, such as 95% or greater, by weight. |