Irn Bru recipe to change to reduced sugar version within days

It's Scotland's most iconic soft drink - and it's about to change forever.

Production of a new lower sugar version of the drink is to start in the next few days, replacing the original recipe.

It's in a bid to avoid the UK Government's upcoming sugar tax.

Maker AG Barr is insisting fans of the fizzy treat won't notice any difference.

A spokesperson said: "From January 2018 Irn-Bru will continue to be made using the same secret IRN-BRU flavour essence, but with less sugar. The vast majority of our drinkers want to consume less sugar so that’s what we’re now offering.

"We know that our loyal drinkers love Irn-Bru for its unique great taste and we’ve worked hard to deliver this.

"We ran lots of taste tests that showed most people can’t tell the difference - 9 out of 10 regular Irn-Bru drinkers told us we had a good or excellent taste match.

"Irn-Bru will remain a sugary drink as the sugar in a can will reduce from 8.5 teaspoons to 4. A can of Irn-Bru today has just under 140 calories and in the future will have around 65 calories.

"Most shoppers can expect to buy Irn-Bru with reduced sugar from later this month."