Diet Coke

Diet Coke, (called Coca-Cola Light in some countries), is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. Unveiled on July 8, 1982 and introduced in the United States on August 9, it is the first new brand since 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark. The product quickly overtook the company's existing diet cola, Tab, in sales.

Diet Coke was sweetened with aspartame, an artificial sweetener, after the sweetener became available in the United States in 1983; to save money, this was originally in a blend with saccharin. After Diet Rite cola advertised its 100 percent use of aspartame, and the manufacturer of NutraSweet (then G. D. Searle & Company) warned that the NutraSweet trademark would not be made available to a blend of sweeteners, Coca-Cola switched the formula to 100 percent NutraSweet. Diet Coke from fountain dispensers still contains some saccharin to extend shelf life.

In other countries in which cyclamates are not banned (as they were in the US in 1970), Diet Coke or Coca-Cola light may be sweetened with a blend containing cyclamates, aspartame, and acesulfame potassium.