Customers want more of retro version Pepsi, Dew

Pepsi and Mountain Dew Throwback. $1.49 to $1.79 per 2-liter bottle. Also available in 8-ounce or 12-ounce cans and 20-ounce bottles.

Bonnie: The people have spoken. And PepsiCo listened.

Last spring, PepsiCo introduced a time-limited retro version of Pepsi and Mountain Dew sweetened with natural sugar, as they were back in the '60s and '70s, instead of the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) used now.

Consumers tweeted, blogged and posted on Facebook, voicing their pleas to bring these sodas back again. Not being a soda drinker, I'm guessing consumers just liked the taste of sugary drinks better than ones made with HFCS. That, or they were reacting to all the negative media attention relating, but not proving, the connection of HFCS to our obesity epidemic.

(To me, the real problem with HFCS has to do with our farm bill subsidizing the overproduction of corn instead of increasing incentives for those growing fruits and vegetables, making these nutritional powerhouses more affordable.) And the real problem with soda is that whether it's sweetened with sugar or HFCS, it provides no nutrients for your 100 calories.

As you know, big food companies listen to consumers ready to spend lots quicker than they do to concerned health professionals, so do continue to voice your thoughts about HFCS via all the social networking avenues.

Carolyn: Bonnie makes an interesting point about why we might not want a lot of high-fructose corn syrup. Michael Pollan, in his best-selling book "The Omnivore's Dilemma," makes another: Namely, that high-fructose corn syrup is now in so many processed foods that if we are what we eat, Americans today are basically "corn chips on legs." Even if corn in its native form is a good thing, too much of a good thing might be too much.

But based on a side-by-side taste-test of regular HFCS Pepsi and Mountain Dew and their Throwback counterparts, I doubt if anybody should be Tweeting for real sugar soda because of taste.

Although Mountain Dew Throwback tasted similar to regular, Pepsi Throwback had a less distinct flavor. Both Throwbacks seemed less fizzy. (Could these sodas not only be made with the same ingredients as they were in the '70s but also have been sitting around since then?)