Diet Rite
Encyclopedia
Diet Rite is a brand of no-calorie soft drinks originally distributed by the RC Cola company. It was introduced in 1958 and initially released as a dietetic product, but was marketed to the general public as a healthful beverage in 1962. The original formula was sweetened with cyclamate
and saccharin
.
Today it is owned by and distributed by Dr Pepper Snapple Group
(known until 2008 as Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages), after the merger with Dr Pepper/Seven Up
. Product containers, however, still bear the Dr Pepper/Seven Up markings.
The early 1960s broadcast media advertising campaign featured a jingle with the lyrics:
Cyclamate
Sodium cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sugar , making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. Some people find it to have an unpleasant aftertaste, but, in general, less so than saccharin or acesulfame potassium...
and saccharin
Saccharin
Saccharin is an artificial sweetener. The basic substance, benzoic sulfilimine, has effectively no food energy and is much sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations...
.
Today it is owned by and distributed by Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. is an American soft drink company, based in Plano, Texas.It was spun off from Britain's Cadbury Schweppes, on May 5, 2008, with trading in its shares starting on May 7, 2008...
(known until 2008 as Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages), after the merger with Dr Pepper/Seven Up
Dr Pepper/Seven Up
Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. was a Plano, Texas-based soft-drink manufacturing company created by the merger of Dr Pepper, Inc. and The Seven Up Company on May 19, 1986. The merger was a result of the independent bailouts of both companies and the subsequent FTC blockage of a Dr Pepper merger with...
. Product containers, however, still bear the Dr Pepper/Seven Up markings.
The early 1960s broadcast media advertising campaign featured a jingle with the lyrics:
- Diet Rite Cola
- Good for you and children too
- Because it hasn't got
- Any sugar at all ... new Diet Rite Cola!
Reformulation
- By 1969, the Food and Drug AdministrationFood and Drug AdministrationThe Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
banned cyclamateCyclamateSodium cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sugar , making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. Some people find it to have an unpleasant aftertaste, but, in general, less so than saccharin or acesulfame potassium...
, forcing the beverage to be reformulated with saccharinSaccharinSaccharin is an artificial sweetener. The basic substance, benzoic sulfilimine, has effectively no food energy and is much sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations...
. - Diet Rite was reformulated in 1983 to eliminate sodium, making it the first sodium-free diet soda.
- In 1987, after having used a blend of the two sweeteners, the saccharin was replaced entirely with NutraSweetNutraSweetThe NutraSweet Company makes and sells NutraSweet, their trademarked brand name for the artificial sweetener aspartame, and Neotame.Aspartame was accidentally discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter, a chemist with a master's degree working under Dr. Kurt Rorig, PhD, in charge of new drug research...
brand aspartameAspartameAspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. In the European Union, it is codified as E951. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide. It was first sold under the brand name NutraSweet; since 2009 it...
and eliminating caffeineCaffeineCaffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a stimulant drug. Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants...
altogether. - 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 SplendaSplendaSplenda is the commercial name and registered trade mark of a sucralose-based artificial sweetener derived from sugar, owned by the British company Tate & Lyle. Sucralose was discovered by Tate & Lyle and researchers at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London, in 1976...
brand sucraloseSucraloseSucralose is an artificial sweetener. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body and therefore it is non-caloric. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. Sucralose is approximately 600 times as sweet as sucrose , twice as sweet as saccharin, and 3.3...
and Sunett brand Acesulfame potassiumAcesulfame potassiumAcesulfame potassium is a calorie-free artificial sweetener, also known as Acesulfame K or Ace K , and marketed under the trade names Sunett and Sweet One. In the European Union, it is known under the E number E950...
. 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.
Brand decline
, most stores in the United States only carry the cola flavor, and to a lesser extent red raspberry. Kiwi strawberry is no longer available at any stores or online.- The Snapple website contains a Product Locator link for Diet Rite; however, the page it links to does not include Diet Rite as one of the available brands.
- Diet Rite is no longer listed as one of the brands on the RC Cola website.
- Despite the sparse and diminishing availablility of the brand, this is the only soda currently recommended by AtkinsAtkins-Places in the United States:* Atkins, Arkansas, a city* Atkins, Iowa, a city* Atkins, Virginia, a census-designated place* Atkins, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community* Atkins Peak, in Yellowstone National Park-Other uses:*Atkins...
for low-carb dieters because it does not use sugar or aspartame.
Brand portfolio
- Cola Pure Zero
- Cherry Cola Pure Zero
- Golden Peach Pure Zero (discontinued)
- Kiwi Strawberry Pure Zero (no longer distributed)
- Red Raspberry Pure Zero
- Black Cherry Pure Zero
- Tangerine Pure Zero
- White Grape Pure Zero
- Green Apple Splatter Pure Zero (discontinued)