In my market in Minnesota, Diet coke with "plant based sweetener" is being sold in small quantities. I'm sure it's a market test, and probably good timing based on this too.

We’ve had that in France a few months (years?) ago too. Never went mainstream. I tested it, I did not like it.

> plant based sweetener

Sounds like stevia?

That one also existed before, it was that green labelled Coke.

Eh, we know for a fact the nitrates in bacon cause cancer, but how many people stopped eating it?

First time I was in California, visiting partner and their family, their mom saw the California Cancer Warning of Doom label on a restaurant, and wanted to know why they couldn't simply not allow the substances known to cause cancer.

One of those substances is alcohol, and this place sold drinks.

Also she was a smoker at the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_65_list...

Unfortunately I know people who drink diet coke like it's water. If somebody ate bacon at that volume they wouldn't live long enough for cancer to get them.

Also the number of ppl having bacon at every meal is small. The number of ppl drinking diet soda - and consuming diet anything else - multiple times per day is significantly larger, at least in the First World.

In the third world, far more people drink diet soda than eat bacon. In the first world, I wouldn't be so sure.

Nitrates in bacon are essential for making bacon. Aspartame is not essential for making coke.

Bacon isn't an essential food, at least not for humans. You don't need to eat it at all.

Likewise cola, of course.

You can buy nitrite-free bacon - doesn't that mean it's not essential?

"No nitrates or nitrites added" bacon still has nitrites as they are generated by the production method: https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/how_tos...