Coca-Cola Life was a reduced-calorie version of Coca-Cola, made using stevia and sugar as sweeteners. It was first released in Argentina and Chile after five years of research together in these countries.

It delivers a modest reduction in sugar compared with regular Coke and has a tenth of the sodium (a good thing) but the name, combined with the green colour on the label, would like you to think it's eco-healthy and life-affirming, something it isn't.

The drink contained a mix of sugar and stevia-leaf extract, and had 35% less sugar and kilojoules than the regular Coca-Cola drink. It was available in a variety of cans and bottles from the regular 250ml can to the 1.2 litre bottles.

Life wasn't it just like diet coke. Well not necessarily. You see diet coke has zero calories. But it's still made with artificial sweeteners. And other chemicals that help create that coke taste

But healthy eating advocates say Coca-Cola Life cannot be considered healthy. A 330ml can will still contain 22.1 grams of sugar – 25 per cent of an adult's guideline daily amount. That's down from 35 grams in regular Coke.

It's fizzy and crisp, and it has the same great signature cola flavor. The only difference is Coke Life is dramatically less sweet - but in a good way.

Whilst Coke Life is a healthier alternative to regular Coke due to its reduction of sugar and kilojoules, it is a still a high sugar beverage. It contains a moderate amount of sugar and kilojoules and therefore cannot be drunk as freely as Coke Zero and Diet Coke.

Over the past year sales have been in freefall. Back in December, figures from Nielsen showed Coke Life sales were down 57%. Yet despite this Coca-Cola continue to back the brand. When asked for its reaction to the drastic drop in sales, Coca-Cola claimed it had built up a “small but loyal following”.

One of the most outspoken critics was Marketing Week's columnist Mark Ritson, who called Coke Life “the harbinger of death for Coca-Cola”. Ouch. The main problem, he said, was that the 89-calorie product was a “half-way house” between the 139 calorie regular can and the zero calories of Diet Coke and Coke Zero.

The Coca-Cola Company has dropped its Coke Life brand from Australian shelves after spending two years and millions of dollars trying to launch the reduced-calorie beverage as it tries to adapt to an increasingly health-conscious market.

Despite Coca-Cola Life sales very quickly going into freefall, Coca-Cola remained surprisingly upbeat about its prospects. Combine this with a £10m investment in Coca-Cola Zero, which went on to become Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, and you might get a slightly clearer idea of why Coke Life slowly faded out of the picture.

There is debate on whether Coca-Cola Life is truly a sustainable product. Critics of the PlantBottle say that the product is misleading. The bottle production requires excessive amounts of water and by creating non-biodegradable product, Coke only adds to the growing landfill problem.