Tab (drink)

Last updated

Tab
Tab logo pink text.png
Tab can.png
355ml can of Tab
Type Soft drink
Manufacturer The Coca-Cola Company
Country of origin  United States
Introduced1963;61 years ago (1963)
DiscontinuedDecember 31, 2020;3 years ago (2020-12-31)
Color Caramel
Flavor Diet cola
Variants
Tab Clear
Related products
Diet Coke
Website us.coca-cola.com/tab

Tab (stylized as TaB) was a diet cola soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company, introduced in 1963 and discontinued in 2020. The company's first diet drink, [1] Tab was popular among some people throughout the 1960s and 1970s as an alternative to Coca-Cola. Several variations were made, including a number of fruit-flavored, root beer, and ginger ale versions. Caffeine-free and clear variations were released in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Contents

Following studies in the early 1970s that linked saccharin, Tab's main sweetener, with bladder cancer in rats, the United States Congress mandated warning labels on products containing the sweetener. The label requirement was later repealed when no plausibility was found for saccharin causing cancer in humans. [2]

Tab's popularity declined after the Coca-Cola company's introduction of Diet Coke in 1982, though it remained the best-selling diet soda of that year. [3] Coca-Cola continued to produce Tab in the United States, though in considerably smaller quantities than its more popular mainstay beverages, such as Coca-Cola and Diet Coke. According to the company, three million cases of Tab were made in 2011, [4] and the beverage retained a cult following. In 2006, a Tab-branded energy drink was released, though it used a different formula from the standard cola. Coca-Cola discontinued Tab at the end of 2020. [5]

History

Tab was created in 1963 by Coca-Cola after the successful sales and marketing of Diet Rite cola, owned by The Royal Crown Company. [6] Previously, Diet Rite had been the only sugarless soda on the market. Tab was marketed to consumers who wanted to "keep tabs" on their weight. [7] [8]

Coca-Cola's marketing research department used its IBM 1401 computer to generate a list of over 185,000 four-letter words with one vowel, adding names suggested by the company's own staff; the list was stripped of any words deemed unpronounceable or too similar to existing trademarks. [9] Of a final list of about twenty names, "Tabb" was chosen, influenced by the possible play on words, and shortened to "Tab" during development. Packaging designer Robert Sidney Dickens gave the name the capitalization pattern ("TaB") used in the logo as well as creating a new bottle design for the soft drink. [10]

For a time in the 1970s, Coca-Cola introduced six variety flavors of Tab (all of which were also sugar-free): Root Beer, Lemon-Lime, Ginger Ale, Black Cherry, Strawberry, and Orange. [11] A caffeine-free version of the original Tab flavor was introduced in 1983, alongside caffeine-free versions of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke. [12] Tab Clear, a caramel color-free version of Tab, [13] was released in the United States in 1992, and subsequently in the United Kingdom and Japan. [14] [15] Tab Clear was discontinued in 1994. [13]

In 2006, Coca-Cola introduced Tab Energy. Though it shares the Tab branding, its formula is entirely different from that of the standard cola: it is sweetened with sucralose and has a sour, tart flavor. [16]

Saccharin safety debate

Early-1970s Tab can and a late-1970s can bearing the saccharin warning along the bottom TaB cans from the 1970s.jpg
Early-1970s Tab can and a late-1970s can bearing the saccharin warning along the bottom

Tab was reformulated several times. It was initially sweetened with a mixture of cyclamate and saccharin. [17] After the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a ban on cyclamate in 1969, sodium saccharin was used as the beverage's primary sweetener. [17]

Studies on laboratory rats during the early 1970s linked high volumes of cyclamate and saccharin with the development of bladder cancer. As a result, the United States Congress mandated that further studies of saccharin be performed and required that all food containing saccharin bear a label warning that the sweetener had been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals. Despite this, Tab remained commercially successful and was the best-selling diet soda in 1982. [3] In May 1984, Coca-Cola introduced Nutrasweet into the Tab formula, which alienated a significant portion of its market, and resulted in numerous consumer complaints regarding a perceived change in flavor. [3]

In the absence of further evidence that saccharin caused cancer in humans, the substance was delisted in 2000 from the U.S. National Toxicology Program’s Report on Carcinogens; this led to the repealing of the warning label requirements for products containing saccharin. [18] In December 2010, the United States Environmental Protection Agency removed saccharin from its list of hazardous substances. [19]

Availability

Tab's popularity began to decline in 1982 with the introduction of Diet Coke, although Tab retained something of a cult following in the United States, [20] where customers purchased about 3 million cases in 2008. [8] [4] In 2011, the Coca-Cola Company reported that it produced approximately 3 million cases of Tab that year (in contrast to 885 million cases of Diet Coke). [4] John Sicher, editor of Beverage Digest , commented in 2013:

[Tab] has pockets of popularity around the country. You see it on shelves in New York and a few other places. It certainly is not a brand you would find in most stores in the U.S. It has a small but devoted following. Coke is right to keep it available. [4]

During Summer 2022, the Save Tab Soda Committee targeted the Coca-Cola company with several billboards to encourage Tab's revival. SaveTabSodaBillboardCampaign.jpg
During Summer 2022, the Save Tab Soda Committee targeted the Coca-Cola company with several billboards to encourage Tab's revival.

The product was also available in the United States Virgin Islands, the Southern African Customs Union, Norway (under the name Tab X-Tra), Canada, and Spain.

Tab was available in Australia in the 1960s to 1980s. It was also sold in the United Kingdom from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s.

As part of their efforts to scale back on under-performing brands during the COVID-19 pandemic, in October 2020 Coca-Cola announced that it was discontinuing Tab, along with Coca-Cola Life, Delaware Punch, Diet Coke Feisty Cherry, Northern Neck Ginger Ale, Diet Northern Neck Ginger Ale, Odwalla and Zico. [21]

As of June 2021, Tab was still available at Coca-Cola stores in Atlanta, Orlando, Las Vegas and select Georgia locations. [22]

In 2021, a group of Tab soda fans created the Save Tab Soda Committee. [23]

Variants

NameYear
launched		NotesPictureRef.
Tab1963Original flavor. Sweetened with cyclamate-saccharin mixture upon release, but cyclamate was removed after 1969, and saccharin was the principal sweetener. In 1984, Nutrasweet was introduced to the formula. Tab can.png [4]
Tab Strawberry1970sStrawberry flavored diet soda; sold for a time in the 1970s alongside other diet drinks using the Tab name. [11]
Tab Lemon-Lime1970sLemon-Lime flavored diet soda; sold for a time in the 1970s alongside other diet drinks using the Tab name. This is a predecessor to Sprite Zero, by which it likely was replaced. [11]
Tab Black Cherry1970sBlack-Cherry flavored diet soda; sold for a time in the 1970s alongside other diet drinks using the Tab name. [11]
Tab Root Beer1970sSugar-free root beer; sold for a time in the 1970s alongside other diet drinks using the Tab name. [11]
Tab Ginger Ale1970sSugar-free ginger ale; sold for a time in the 1970s alongside other diet drinks using the Tab name. [11]
Tab Orange1970sSugar-free orange soda; sold for a time in the 1970s alongside other diet drinks using the Tab name. This is a predecessor to Fanta Zero, which was launched in the early 2000s. [11]
Caffeine Free Tab1983Original Tab flavor without the caffeine. It was sold during the 80s and vanished soon after. [12]
Tab Clear 1992Clear diet cola. Was first sold in the U.S. and later to Australia, the UK and Japan, and was discontinued within a year. [15]
Tab (Southern African Customs Union variant)1990sIn these countries, Tab uses a different recipe compared to Spain and the U.S., where it is a caffeine-free drink, and uses less carbonation. The areas this can be found are Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Eswatini. Tab Cola (4186648047).jpg [24]
Tab X-Tra1994A Norwegian version of Tab with a different name, made to compete with Pepsi Max in the country. It was also sold in Sweden and Finland, but the drink was discontinued in Sweden in 2007 and discontinued in Finland at an earlier date. After 2007, it was exclusively sold in Norway until it was discontinued in 2021. [25] [26]
Tab Energy 2006A Tab-branded energy drink which uses an entirely different recipe from the cola. It was also sold in Mexico, New Zealand and Spain, where it is called Tab Fabulous. TabEnergy.jpg [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cola</span> Carbonated soft drink

Cola is a carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus oils, and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked brand, in 1886, which was imitated by other manufacturers. Most colas originally contained caffeine from the kola nut, leading to the drink's name, though other sources of caffeine are generally used in modern formulations. The Pemberton cola drink also contained a coca plant extract. His non-alcoholic recipe was inspired by the coca wine of pharmacist Angelo Mariani, created in 1863.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RC Cola</span> Cola-flavored soft drink

RC Cola is a cola-flavored carbonated beverage owned in the United States by Keurig Dr Pepper and internationally by RC Global Beverages, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diet Coke</span> Diet cola brand

Diet Coke is a sugar-free and low-calorie soft drink produced and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. It contains artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. Unveiled on July 8, 1982, and introduced in the United States one month later, it was the first new brand since Coca-Cola's creation in 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark. The product quickly overtook the company's existing diet cola, Tab, in sales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barq's</span> Root beer manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company

Barq's is an American brand of root beer created by Edward Barq and bottled since the beginning of the 20th century. It is owned by the Coca-Cola Company. It was known as "Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer" until 2012. Some of its formulations contain caffeine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diet soda</span> Type of sugar-free or artificially sweetened soda

Diet or light beverages are generally sugar-free, artificially sweetened beverages with few or no calories. They are marketed for diabetics and other people who want to reduce their sugar and/or caloric intake.

Diet Rite is an American brand of no-calorie soft drinks that was originally distributed by the RC Cola company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fresca</span> Branded diet citrus soft drink

Fresca is a grapefruit-flavored citrus soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company. Borrowing the word Fresca from Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, it was introduced in the United States in 1966. Originally a bottled sugar-free diet soda, sugar sweetened versions were introduced in some markets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diet Pepsi</span> Sugar-free, artificially sweetened soda

Diet Pepsi is a diet carbonated cola soft drink produced by PepsiCo, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi with no sugar. First test marketed in 1963 under the name Patio Diet Cola, it was re-branded as Diet Pepsi the following year, becoming the first diet cola to be distributed on a national scale in the United States. In the 1960s and 1970s, its competition consisted of the Coca-Cola Company's subsequently discontinued Tab. The United States represents the largest single market for Diet Pepsi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shasta (drink)</span> American soft drink brand

Shasta Beverages is an American soft drink manufacturer that markets a value-priced soft drink line with a wide variety of soda flavors, as well as a few drink mixers, under the brand name Shasta. The company name is derived from Mount Shasta in northern California and the associated Shasta Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coca-Cola Zero Sugar</span> Diet cola

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is a diet cola produced by the Coca-Cola Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delaware Punch</span> Non-carbonated grape-flavored drink owned by The Coca-Cola Company

Delaware Punch was a fruit-flavored soft drink. Its formula used a blend of fruit flavors, with grape being the most prominent. It was not carbonated and was caffeine-free.

Tab Clear was a variation of Tab. It is Coca-Cola's contribution to the short-lived "clear cola" movement during the early 1990s. It was introduced in the United States on December 14, 1992, in the United Kingdom a month later and in Japan in March 1993 to initially positive results. Tab Clear was, however, discontinued after only a short time of marketing in 1994. Unlike most other "clear" soft drinks, Tab Clear contained caffeine and, according to the company, had the flavor of cola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polar Beverages</span> Soft drink company

Polar Beverages is a soft drink company based in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is a manufacturer and distributor of sparkling fruit beverages, seltzer, ginger ale, drink mixers, and spring water to customers in the United States. It is the largest independent soft-drink bottler in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Sky Beverage Company</span> Beverage company

Blue Sky Beverage Company was a beverage company that produced soft drinks and energy drinks. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Monster Beverage Corporation. The company was established in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1980, where it remained until it was purchased by Monster in 2000. Coca-Cola North America took ownership of Blue Sky Sodas, Hansen’s Juice Products, Hansen’s Natural Sodas, Hubert’s Lemonade, Peace Tea and other non-energy drink brands as part of Coke’s partnership with Monster Beverage Corp on Jun 12, 2015. Blue Sky Beverage Company now operates out of Corona, California. The southwestern look and feel of the artwork on the soda cans is reminiscent of the company's roots in New Mexico.

No-Cal was the first diet soda. It was initially marketed to diabetics in a number of flavors, the most popular being black cherry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zevia</span> American food company

Zevia is a Los Angeles based company that produces soft drinks, organic tea, energy drinks, and mixers sweetened with stevia. All Zevia products are zero-calorie, sugar-free, gluten free, vegan, certified kosher, and certified by The Non-GMO Project. In June 2021, Zevia filed to go public with an IPO.

References

  1. ↑ Walker, Andrea (July 7, 2005). "First there was Diet Rite, then Tab and Diet Pepsi. In 1982, Diet Coke arrived on the scene. Now, with Coke Zero, the latest entry on the market, it's a real..." The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Are Artificial Sweeteners Safe for People With Diabetes?". Cleveland Clinic. June 29, 2015. Archived from the original on October 2, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Belkin, Lisa (October 10, 1984). "Tab soda drinkers miss familiar taste". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Truman, Cheryl (April 22, 2013). "TaB turns 50: Those Who Love the Fizzy Diet Cola Celebrate". Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  5. ↑ "PBS NewsHour Weekend Full Episode December 19, 2020" – via www.youtube.com.
  6. ↑ Siegel, Benjamin (June 2006). "Sweet Nothing—The Triumph of Diet Soda". American Heritage. Archived from the original on June 21, 2006.
  7. ↑ "Product Descriptions: Tab". The Coca-Cola Company. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Cult sodas with a history: Tab". Fortune. October 2009.
  9. ↑ Mead, Linda T. (2002). Investing With Giants: Tried and True Stocks That Have Sustained the Test of Time . John Wiley & Sons. p.  122. ISBN   978-0-471-27158-1.
  10. ↑ "The TaB bottle". Beach Packaging Design. November 29, 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 MeTV Staff (January 15, 2018). "In the 1970s, Coca-Cola also tried to expand its diet soda with a variety of Tab flavors". MeTV . Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  12. 1 2 Lueck, Thomas J. (April 29, 1983). "Coke Brands Join No-Caffeine Fray". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  13. 1 2 Bhasin, Kim (June 6, 2012). "16 Failed Soda Brands You'll Never See Again". Business Insider Australia . Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  14. ↑ Bryant, Adam (December 15, 1992). "COMPANY NEWS; Coke Adds a Clear Cola To Its 'New Age' Stable". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  15. 1 2 The Associated Press (January 19, 1993). "COMPANY NEWS; Tab Clear is introduced in Britain". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  16. 1 2 Morford, Mark (March 8, 2006). "Tab Energy Kills You Dead / The famously toxic retro cola nails women with a new, pink energy drink. Because you love it". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 2, 2018– via SFGate.
  17. 1 2 Lindop, Edmund (2009). America in the 1960s. Twenty-First Century Books. p.  50. ISBN   978-0-761-33453-8.
  18. ↑ "Artificial Sweeteners and Cancer". National Cancer Institute. August 18, 2005. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Removal of Saccharin from the Lists of Hazardous Constituents and Hazardous Wastes under RCRA and from the List of Hazardous Substances under CERCLA". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Archived from the original on October 29, 2015.
  20. ↑ McGrath, Ben (February 6, 2006). "Tab Scare". The New Yorker . Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  21. ↑ Maloney, Jennifer (October 16, 2020). "Tab, Coca-Cola's Diet-Soda Pioneer and a '70s Icon, Is Going Away". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Tab". us.coca-cola.com. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  23. ↑ Francis, Ali (August 23, 2022). "For Tab superfans, bringing the soda back is personal". Bon Appétit . Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  24. ↑ "How much caffeine is in a Coca-Cola?". Coca-Cola Africa. Retrieved April 1, 2018. We know that not everyone drinks caffeine and not everyone wants to drink it all the time, so we also offer a range of caffeine-free beverages, including TAB so people can make the choice for themselves and their families.
  25. ↑ "Aldri mer Tab X-tra". godt.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). November 1, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  26. ↑ "TAB X-tra®". Coca-Cola Norway (in Norwegian). Retrieved April 1, 2018.
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