could be linked to a greater risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and death. But many studies, some dating back decades, have failed to find a meaningful link between aspartame and cancer. A meta-review published in the journal “Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology” in
Still, Diet Coke’s star has been falling for years now. Even the word “diet” has become unfashionable now that diet culture has been repackaged as wellness. In 2018, in response to steadily declining sales, its parent company Coca-Cola attempted a brand revamp, introducing new fruit flavours in an attempt to lure the La Croix crowd back.
Name a celebrity who was active in these decades— the gamut runs from Charlize Theron and Julianne Moore to Zooey Deschanel and Hilary Duff—and chances are you’ll find photos of them clutching a can in a paparazzi shot. Varty would affix pictures of celebrities drinking Diet Coke to her vision-board collages—she also had a Diet Coke poster, T-shirts and, to this day, trades Diet Coke memorabilia with a friend who loved it just as much.
It was as ubiquitous and aspirational as the diet culture that’s right there in its name. “It was the time of dieting when you didn’t need to diet,” says Varty, who began drinking Diet Coke in earnest in high school, when she would also attend Weight Watchers meetings. “Everyone almost did it as a hobby, like ‘Get your SnackWell’s and Diet Snapple and Diet Coke.