Diet Coke is a drink that first reached the market in 1982, and is currently the third leading soft drink in the world¹. While the Coca-Cola Company currently has many soft drinks on the market, Diet Coke was their first addition to the Coca-Cola that had been sold for almost a century. In countries other than the UK, Canada, Australia, and the United States, Diet Coke is known by the name of 'Coca-Cola Light'. Not surprisingly, Diet Coke is largely marketed at women.

Varieties

Over the years, Diet Coke has also appeared in several flavoured varieties, including Cherry, Lemon, and Vanilla Diet Coke. Available flavours tend to differ by region of the world. These varieties taste absolutely nothing like plain Diet Coke - for some people, apparently, this is the appeal. Diet Coke purists, however, will settle for nothing but the real thing. Diet Coke is also available in a caffeine-free version, although this appears to defeat the whole purpose.

Contents

A can of Diet Coke contains 355ml (12 fluid oz)² of beverage that is free of calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrates. It is not totally without content however, as it does contain 40mg of sodium and 46.5mg of caffeine³. Other ingredients include caramel colouring, aspartame, phosphoric acid, and citric acid. While it doesn't show up in the list of ingredients, there is a warning on the can to people with phenylketonuria that Diet Coke contains phenylalanine. Not surprisingly, the leading ingredient in Diet Coke is good old water.