Coke Zero is different in the fact that it’s sweetened with both aspartame and acesulfame K. Diet Coke, for example, only contains Splenda. Coke Zero is now doing what Diet Pepsi has been doing in many years in certain countries (like Canada) in using these ingredients rather than simply Splenda.
In my opinion, the combination in Coke Zero tastes better than Diet Coke, so it’s got a point there. As for healthiness, no pop is good for you… rating the healthiness compared to regular Coke then it depends on what you’re looking for.
Regular Coke contains sugar, which of course has high calories and will make you fat. Coke Zero has zero actual sugar, and low calories… but it is still considered unhealthy. Why? There’s talk that acesulfame K hasn’t been studied thoroughly enough and may be considered carcinogenic, though these claims have been dismissed by the USFDA. Wikipedia states that aspartame is also under duress because “some studies have also recommended further investigation into possible connections between aspartame and negative effects such as headaches, brain tumors, brain lesions, and lymphoma.”
Scary, no?