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By Susan Carpenter Los Angeles Times

It's been 60 years since diet soda first burst on the scene with a sugar-free ginger ale known as No-Cal that catered to diabetics. Then came RC Cola's Diet Rite, followed by Tab, Fresca and a slew of sugar-free versions of Pepsi and Coca-Cola that seem to be in perpetual states of reformulation to accommodate customers' fickle tastes.

Today, it isn't just colas that are going on a diet. The market for no-calorie sodas has become as effervescent as the beverages themselves, with an ever-expanding palette of exotic flavors such as coconut, pomegranate and coffee.

Many of them are from small companies that are developing loyal followings catering to customers' thirst for carbonated indulgence without the sugar.

"We'd all love to drive a Ferrari if it had the fuel consumption of a Prius, but you can't have it all. What we've found with our product is that it gets the fuel consumption of a Prius and maybe drives like a BMW," said Paddy Spence, chief executive of Zevia, a brand of stevia-sweetened sodas that will be available this fall at Target.

Zevia is one of the only carbonated drink companies to use the natural, no-calorie sweetener derived from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant, which is generally recognized as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use as a sweetener in foods. Stevia is more commonly used in non-carbonated beverages, such as Sobe Life Water and Vitamin Water.

Most diet sodas are artificially sweetened with aspartame (better known as Equal), acesulfame potassium (also known as Ace-K) or sucralose (branded as Splenda) - sometimes in combination. All of them are artificial sweeteners produced using chemical processes that are regulated by the FDA as food additives. All of them offer more concentrated levels of sweetness than ordinary table sugar without the calories.

The FDA has approved the use of five artificial sweeteners as food additives, including aspartame, Ace-K and sucralose, as well as saccharin and neotame (better known as NutraSweet). Before each sweetener came to market, the FDA determined they were safe "well within acceptable daily intake levels," said FDA spokeswoman Carla Daniels.

While some studies have shown that repeated exposure to low- and no-calorie sweeteners may lead to the development of preferences for sweet foods and beverages and high-calorie foods, and eventually lead to health complications associated with such a diet, that hasn't slowed the market.

Diet soda is a rare sweet spot in the carbonated soft-drink business. Sales of soda overall have been declining in the U.S. since 2005 as consumers migrate to other types of bottled drinks, such as water and tea. In 2000, diet sodas made up 24.7 percent of the crowded $76 billion carbonated beverage market in the U.S.

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Diet demand fuels hunt for sugar alternatives

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