The office coffee machine broke down this morning, so I've been using Coca-Cola to fight off the postprandial dip. I rarely drink soda (aside from the occasional Cuba Libre), so I'm usually the last to know about (crazy) new kinds of soda. But there's a case of Diet Coke Plus in our office refrigerator - you might not have seen it in your local supermarket, but it's a new version of Diet Coke that contains several vitamins and minerals:

Each eight-ounce serving of Diet Coke Plus provides a good source of Niacin (vitamin B3), vitamins B6 and B12, zinc and magnesium (15% Daily Value [DV] for Niacin, B6 and B12, 10% DV for zinc and magnesium).

Great news, no? Now you don't have to take that pesky multi-vitamin every day. Just have a few cans of Diet Coke Plus and you'll be all set...

Not a fan of Diet Coke? Not a problem: PepsiCo is responding with the launch of Tava this fall, which will contain "vitamins B3, B6 and E, and chromium." (Chromium?)

I'm just waiting for them to combine soft drinks with OTC medication: "have a hangover and can't stay awake at your morning meeting? Try new Coke NSAID - it comes in two flavors: cherry aspirin and vanilla ibuprofen..." Yum...

Joshua

Joshua Finkelstein (Senior Editor, Nature)