In brief: Diet Pepsi changing artificial sweeteners

NEW YORK – PepsiCo says it’s dropping aspartame from Diet Pepsi in response to customer feedback and replacing it with sucralose, another artificial sweetener commonly known as Splenda.

The decision to swap sweeteners comes as Americans keep turning away from popular diet sodas. Rival Coca-Cola said this week that sales volume for Diet Coke, which also uses aspartame, fell 5 percent in North America in the first three months of the year.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said in a statement it has no plans to change the sweetener in Diet Coke, which is the country’s top-selling diet cola.

The Food and Drug Administration says aspartame, known by the brand names Equal and NutraSweet, is “one of the most exhaustively studied substances in the human food supply, with more than 100 studies supporting its safety.”

More recently, a government advisory committee for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines said aspartame appears to be safe in the amounts consumed by Americans. But it added there is still uncertainty about whether the sweetener increases risk for some blood cancers in men.

Hawaii poised to raise smoking age to 21

HONOLULU – Lawmakers have passed a bill that would make Hawaii the first state to raise the legal smoking age to 21.

The measure cleared its final legislative hurdle Friday with approval from the state Senate. It now goes to Gov. David Ige for his decision.

The bill prevents adolescents from smoking, buying or possessing traditional and electronic cigarettes. Those caught breaking the rules would face fines or community service.

Supporters say 90 percent of daily smokers begin the habit before age 19.

Opponents say it’s unfair that a veteran returning from military service could be prevented from smoking.

Bird flu spread worries pheasant producers

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Game bird producers in the Midwest are ramping up disease prevention measures in an effort to shield their multibillion-dollar industry from the highly contagious avian influenza outbreak sweeping the region’s poultry producers.

The deadly H5N2 strain of avian influenza has cost turkey and chicken producers millions of birds but the virus hasn’t affected game bird producers who supply the nation’s hunting preserves.

Bill MacFarlane runs the largest pheasant operation in North America. The 60-year-old farmer has implemented strict measures to protect the 1.8 million birds he supplies annually.

It’s still not known how susceptible game birds are. The only case of the virus in pheasants so far was found in Washington state.

Abercrombie & Fitch toning down sexuality

NEW YORK – Abercrombie & Fitch is saying goodbye to the beefcake models who greet customers at its doors.

The New Albany, Ohio-based teen retailer is also announcing it will no longer have “sexualized” photos used in marketing materials in its stores and on its shopping bags, starting in late July.

The moves are part of a new set of changes the retailer announced Friday as it distances itself from the controversial sexualized image established by former CEO Mike Jeffries.

For years, the brand was white hot among shoppers, but it has been in a sales funk since the recession as teens have defected to chains like H&M, which offer inexpensive trendy fashions.