'Healthy' Coke is coming. Is it too good to be true?

Image: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley drinks Coke Life. Should you? (via Coca-Cola)

One of the world’s most popular vices has had a ‘healthy’ makeover – and, according to reports, it’s very likely coming to Australia this week.

Get ready, local Coke addicts: the soft drink shelf of your nearest supermarket will be looking a little less red when Coca-Cola Life makes its debut. So, what exactly is this exotic, green-labelled imposter?

Coca-Cola Life is, basically, 'healthy' Coke. We know, we know - the health impacts of soft drinks are well documented, and there's no dietician in the world that would advocate cola as a regular part of a healthy diet.

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Alas, Coke Life - which was first launched in Argentina last year before moving into the British and US markets - promises a reduced-calorie version of its popular predecessor.

The Australian reports the drink contains up to 60 per cent less sugar and a third fewer calories than regular Coca-Cola - for instance, a 330ml can of Coca-Cola Life contains only 89 calories opposed to a can of normal Coca-Cola which has 139 calories. Unlike Diet Coke and Coke Zero, Coca-Cola life does not contain artificial sweeteners.  The recipe, which bears the slogan 'sweetness from natural sources', is sweetened using a combination of sugar and stevia - a natural sweetener and sugar substitute derived from plants.

Hey, you know what's even healthier than 'naturally sweetened' soft drink? Water. It's especially good with fruit added in:

Coke Life was developed by Coca-Cola Amatil as part of a series of initiatives dedicated to encouraging "healthy living". Others have included launching smaller 250ml cans across their range and promising to reduce the amount of calories they put into their sparkling range by 5 per cent by the end of this year.

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And for all the skeptics out there... Coke Life is most definitely different. You see, the famous red label and red can have been replaced with a green one. Green: The universal acknowledged symbol for all that is "healthy".

Ironically, last year, Coke's main competitor Pepsi entered the same market. The company launched its own stevia-sweetened soft-drink, Pepsi Next, which is also available in a green can or green label bottle. We get it, guys: green = good for you.

But soft drink is still soft drink, and not only do dieticians hate the fizzy stuff, dentists do too. The carbonation in any kind of cola

Coke would not confirm the release of Coca-Cola Life, but said it was “committed to exploring stevia-sweetened beverages” and was “watching how the product performs in other markets, such as the UK”.

Would you drink this product?