10 facts about Diet Coke

1. When Diet Coke was first introduced in 1982, it was the first new Coca-Cola product since 1886 to actually include the Coca-Cola trademarked name.
2. But Diet Coke was not the first diet soft drink from the Coca-Cola company. In 1963, the company had introduced TaB in response to the released of Diet Rite in 1958. Diet Pepsi would come along in 1964 from the Pepsi-Cola company.
3. Diet Coke is the No. 1 best-selling diet cola in the United States as of this writing, and the No. 2 selling cola product right behind Coca-Cola.
4. Diet Coke has different names in different countries. Most of the English-speaking world knows Diet Coke simply as Diet Coke, but in Mexico and Brazil and the Caribbean, for example, this soft drink is sold as Coca-Cola Light. Much of central Europe also knows this drink as Coca-Cola Light. Other names are used in other languages throughout the world.
5. How many different flavors have been tried with Diet Coke over the years? Cherry, lemon and lime are two of the most common, but also tried have been cherry vanilla, citrus zest, sango and vanilla. Some of the more rare of these flavors are still available in some parts of the world outside of the U.S.
6. Diet Cherry Coke was released to the public in 1986. Diet Coke with Lemon came out in 2001. Then in 2002, Diet Vanilla Coke was introduced. Lime was added in 2004 with black cherry flavoring released in 2006.
7. Various artificial sweeteners have been used in the Diet Coke recipe over the years. Aspartame is the most common, but saccharin has been used in the past and continues to be used in some fountain soda versions of Diet Coke. Historically there was a mixture of artificial sweeteners used in Diet Coke until only NutraSweet, an aspartame product, was used.
8. Despite many rumors of the dangers of aspartame, this artificial sweetener has been declared safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization.
9. For those concerned about aspartame, or who prefer a slightly different flavor, in the U.S. there is available Diet Coke with Splenda.
10. In late 2007, the Coca-Cola company released Diet Coke Plus, a Diet Coke product that includes extra vitamins and minerals. There have been several different versions of Diet Coke Plus introduced in different parts of the world, each varying from the other on the type and amount of vitamins and minerals used.