Customers claim new Ribena recipe tastes like ‘drain cleaner’

RIBENA is facing a backlash over its healthier recipe, with customers complaining the new drink “tastes like drain cleaner”.

The Suntory Group, which makes the soft drink, cut the sugar content by half last month, ahead of the new UK Sugar Tax guidelines next month.

Ribena drinks now contain less than 5g of sugar per 100ml bottle, with the sugar replaced by controversial sweeteners Acesulfame K and Sucralose.

The company has also thickened the drink so its consistency is the same as before by adding Polydextrose – an ingredient known to cause bloating, flatulence and diarrhoea.

‘We feel the recipe we’ve gone with is the best and the most Ribena at heart’

Now customers have branded the company “devious” with hundreds claiming that they are boycotting. Paul Court wrote on Facebook that the new recipe “tastes like drain cleaner”.

The brand has followed the likes of Irn-bru and Robinsons Fruit Shoot, which also swapped some of their sugar content for sweetener ahead of new tax rules.

Responding to customers, Ribena said: “We feel that taking out half the sugar … is the right thing to do. However, we’ve not taken this decision lightly and have spent hundreds of hours working on new recipes. We feel that the one we’ve gone with is the best and is the most Ribena at heart.”