Who Invented Diet Soda And Why?

It's an interesting dilemma: What if you could drink a soda that has zero calories and tastes almost identical to regular soda, except after you swallow it tastes vaguely like you just licked a battery? That's the bargain diet soda offers, and it seems most people are more than happy to take it. Although diet soda is just as bad for your heart as regular soda, it has long been deemed "the healthy choice," and many people continue to drink it. But where, exactly, did diet soda come from? Was it cooked up in a lab by anonymous food scientists from Coca-Cola's research department? Nope — in fact, the first diet soda was a ginger ale, bottled in 1952 by a Brooklyn soda company called The Kirsch Bottling Company.

The Kirsch Bottling Company was run by Hyman Kirsch and his son Morris. The two men were involved in their community and were familiar with the Jewish Sanitarium for Chronic Disease (known today as the Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center). Some of the patients at the sanitarium were diabetic which gave both Hyman and Morris Kirsch the idea to create a sugar-free soda that they could enjoy. So, in 1952, the men produced the world's first diet soda, calling it No-Cal. Originally, there was only one flavor of No-Cal: ginger ale. Soon, however, The Kirsch Bottling Company added more, including root beer, cola, and black cherry. From there, the soda quickly became popular with housewives who wanted to watch their weight, and the company was making $5 million a year in diet soda sales by as early as 1953.

Unfortunately for The Kirsch Bottling Company, it didn't have the diet soda lane to itself for long. Royal Crown Cola and Dr. Pepper soon launched diet sodas. Then, in 1963, Coca-Cola came out with its now discontinued diet soda, Tab. As with No-Cal, these companies targeted their advertising to people who wanted to lose weight (hence the term "diet soda"), and as the sweeteners in them changed from saccharin to more modern alternatives like aspartame, they gained a great deal of popularity. 

According to a survey conducted by Statista, in the United States, diet soda made up more than a quarter of soda's total market volume during 2020. A great deal of this market volume was (and is) driven by Diet Coke. After more than 40 years on the market, many people see Diet Coke as the gold standard for diet soda, and the data backs this up. Diet Coke was the second bestselling soda in the U.S. (diet or otherwise) from 2010 to 2013 and, during a period in 2018, Diet Coke actually outsold classic Coca-Cola.

Unfortunately, No-Cal has not benefited from the recent, huge demand for diet soda. Despite surviving the Food and Drug Administration's ban on cyclamate calcium — No-Cal's main sweetener — in 1969, the diet soda steadily lost its market share, and The Kirsch Bottling Company was sold and consolidated during the 1980s. But while this soda is no longer produced, it's fair to say No-Cal and The Kirsch Bottling Company made their mark.