It does happen in practice, but unfortunately because it doesn't happen in practice
on average, the WHO has opted away from educating people on the nuances and instead continue this maddening war about which is worse.
The other issue is that there's so much variance. Are you making an effort at improving the quality of your food and made up that 200 calories with nutrient rich items? Too bad, you still aren't losing weight, so WHO declares that diet soda is ineffective for weight loss, articles summarize and declare that artificial sweeteners are bad for you, and you still get people thinking that diet soda is worse for you than regular soda.
