Don't like diet pop? Too bad.

High school students with a sweet tooth will be out of luck if Toronto school trustees adopt a proposal tonight for aspartame-only soft drinks to be sold in high school vending machines as early as this fall.

The switch to aspartame is being introduced by Refreshments Canada, an industry-sponsored organization that includes Pepsi and Coca-Cola, companies that are bidding for vending machine contracts with the schools.

And that is precisely the problem, say members of a Toronto District School Board committee who will discuss whether to allow only aspartame-sweetened soft drinks in vending machines, or get rid of vending machines altogether. The administration, finance and accountability committee is looking at extending the current contract with Pepsi for a year to buy time to investigate other options.

The move to stock all vending machines in Toronto high schools with low-calorie alternatives is the last phase of the multi-stage Guidelines for School Partnership, a voluntary guideline created by Refreshments Canada to provide schools with healthier beverage options.

But it is also a move that Sheila Cary-Meagher, a trustee for Ward 16 and a committee member, says is forcing the board to decide between "a bunch of bad choices."

Meagher says there is too much uncertainty about the long-term effects of aspartame to allow it to be the only option available to students. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener 180 times sweeter than sugar, but without the calories.

Introduced in the United States in 1974, aspartame has been permitted as a food additive in Canada since 1981, and according to Health Canada is safe for human consumption.

But the proposal to be debated cites concerns about "its potential health impacts."

"With the long-term safety of aspartame uncertain, permitting products that contain it as the only carbonated soda option available in vending machines in secondary schools could knowingly put student health at risk," according to a staff report.

Aspartame-only soda also limits student choice, said Areez Dhalwani, a student trustee. "Students should have the option of what they want to drink," he said.

The removal of vending machines altogether is an unlikely option for the cash-strapped board, which could lose an estimated half a million dollars a year if the machines are removed, the report says.

Recommendations from tonight's meeting will go to the June 24 board meeting for a final decision.