No-Cal was the first diet soda.[1] It was initially marketed to diabetics in a number of flavors, the most popular being black cherry.
History
Hyman Kirsch and his son Morris, both Russianimmigrants living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, began selling sodas in 1904.[2] Their involvement with the Jewish Sanitarium for Chronic Disease (now known as Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center), led them to the invention of a sugar-free drink to meet the needs of the hospital's diabetic patients.[3]
Kirsch Beverages developed a line of zero-calorie soft drinks that they called No-Cal, which they began selling in 1952.[1] The soda was produced at the company's plant in College Point, Queens, New York.[4]
Eventually, the company started marketing the soda to "weight-conscious" housewives. It thus took off in popularity, until the company was worth millions.
Ray Distributors, owned and operated by Arthur Raphael, was the sole distributor of No-Cal soda on Long Islang from the early 1950s till his death in 1967. Mr. Raphael, a salesman for Kirsch before Hyman and Morris Kirsch gave him the opportunity to bring No-Cal to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, was also instrumental in introducing No-Cal as a fountain drink.
As major soda producers such as The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo launched their own diet brands in the 1960s, No-Cal found it hard to compete. This, coupled with the Food and Drug Administration's ban of cyclamate sweeteners from all U.S. food and drug products in October 1970,[6] caused No-Cal to lose market share and slowly disappear.
References
^ abEncyclopedia of junk food and fast food, Andrew F. Smith, pp. 72 and 116, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006
^Marvel Comics, Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: "More Mirthful, Monumental, Mind-Staggering Memoranda from Your Marvel Madmen!" (March 1966 issues, including Thor: "Stan G., our curly-haired, mustachioed demon artist/colorist has just drawn an ad for one of the biggest soft-drink companies. (Its initials are No-Cal!) If you're in the Times Square area, you can see it on the biggest billboard in sight."