Diet Rite is an American brand of no-calorie soft drinks that was originally distributed by the

RC Cola RC Cola (short for Royal Crown Cola) is an American brand of cola invented by Claud A. Hatcher in 1905. Royal Crown Ginger Ale was the first product of the RC Cola line, and it referred to the original ingredient: ginger. More ingredients w ...

company.

History

Diet Rite was introduced in 1958 and initially released as a

dietetic A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ca ...

product, but was introduced nationwide and marketed to the general public as a healthful beverage in 1962. The original formula was sweetened with

cyclamate Cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar), making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. It is often used with other artificial sweeteners, especially saccharin; ...

and

saccharin Saccharin (''aka'' saccharine, Sodium sacchari) is an artificial sweetener with effectively no nutritional value. It is about 550 times as sweet as sucrose but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. Saccharin is ...

.DietRite.com - Behind the Flavor
Retrieved September 15, 2012. After cyclamate was banned in 1969, it was removed from the product.

NutraSweet The NutraSweet Company is an American nutrient company that produces and markets NutraSweet Neotame, their trademarked brand name for the high-intensity sweetener neotame. In 2021, NutraSweet was placed 43rd by FoodTalks' list of Top 50 Global S ...

brand aspartame was added upon its introduction to the market, and in 1987 the saccharin was replaced entirely with the complete elimination of

caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine to ...

. In the 1990s, several fruit-flavored varieties of Diet Rite were introduced. In 2000, the line was reformulated yet again, this time to replace aspartame with

Splenda Splenda is a global brand of sugar substitutes and reduced-calorie food products. While the company is known for its original formulation containing sucralose, it also manufactures items using natural sweeteners such as stevia, Siraitia grosveno ...

brand sucralose and Sunnet brand acesulfame potassium. It became the first major diet soda in the United States to use neither aspartame nor saccharin as a sweetener. In 2005, "Pure Zero" was added to the name, and a cherry cola flavor was introduced in 2006. Today it is owned by and distributed by

Keurig Dr Pepper Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1981–2014) and Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018), is a publicly traded American beverage and coffeemaker conglomerate with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts. Formed i ...

Advertising

In the early 1960s

The Paris Sisters The Paris Sisters were a 1960s American girl group from San Francisco, California, United States, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. Career The group consisted of lead singer Priscilla Paris (January 4, 1941 – March 5, 20 ...

sang a jingle for a Diet Rite television commercial, with the line "Stay thin with the best-tasting cola of all!".

References

External links

* {{Diet sodas American cola brands Diet drinks Keurig Dr Pepper brands Products introduced in 1958