Diet Coke

From ArticleWorld

Diet Coke is a sugar-free version of the name brand Coca-Cola soft drink. Diet Coke was first sold in the United States in 1982, almost a century after the release of regular Coca-Cola. It is sweetened with aspartame and was later blended with saccharin to save money. When NutraSweet made a big issues out of their trademark, Coca-Cola switched again, this time back to just aspartame.

Diet Coke is packaged and formulated different in many other countries, and is actually called Coca-Cola Light in some European areas. For instance, in the United Kingdom, Diet Coke can be sweetened with cyclamates (cyclamates are banned in the United States and cannot be used). Coke drinkers in these European countries actually prefer their formula over the original American version.

Diet Coke is currently ranked fourth as the most popular carbonated soft drink in the world and is sold in 149 countries. The top five marketable countries for Diet Coke are the United States, Germany, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

There are many different flavors of Diet Coke that are surfacing on the market. Some of these include Caffeine Free Diet Coke, Diet Cherry Coke, Diet Vanilla Coke, Diet Coke with Lemon, Diet Coke with Lime, and the newly released Diet Coke sweetened with Splenda. Diet Coke Raspberry Flavor is now only available in New Zealand, and Diet Coke will be coming out with Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke in 2006. A new and differently formulated version, Coca-Cola Zero, was relseased in June, 2005. It is a different form of Diet Coke that is sweetened with aspartame and acesulfame potassium, and has been a raging success.

Coca-Cola has found a way to reach other markets with Diet Coke, including those who are on low calorie eating plans, athletes, people who are dieting, and those who have health conditions.