March 13/Mexico City/Chicago Tribune-- Coca-Cola has reformulated the Mexican version of Coca-Cola Zero, removing an artificial sweetener that is banned in the U.S. and caused an outcry from consumer advocates in Mexico.

The company said the change will give the diet drink a taste closer to that of Coca-Cola Classic and had nothing to do with concerns over sodium cyclamate, a sweetener banned in the U.S. 39 years ago by the FDA after lab findings suggested cyclamate posed a cancer risk.

Sodium cyclamate, which is legal in more than 50 countries, was replaced in Coke Zero in Mexico with a combination of two other artificial sweeteners, aspartame and acesulfame K.

From the March 17, 2008, Prepared Foods e-Flash