**1. History and Variants:**
– Tab created by Coca-Cola in 1963 as a sugarless soda for weight-conscious consumers.
– Varieties included Root Beer, Lemon-Lime, Ginger Ale, Black Cherry, Strawberry, and Orange.
– Caffeine-free version introduced in 1983, followed by Tab Clear in 1992.
– Different recipe for Tab in the Southern African Customs Union.
– Original Tab flavor launched in 1963.
– Tab Clear introduced in 1992 and discontinued the same year.
– Coca-Cola introduced Tab Energy in 2006 with a different formula.
**2. Safety and Formulation Changes:**
– Tab reformulated multiple times with different sweeteners.
– Initially sweetened with cyclamate and saccharin, then switched to saccharin.
– Studies in the early 1970s linked saccharin with bladder cancer in rats.
– Nutrasweet added to the formula in 1984, causing consumer complaints.
– Saccharin delisted as cancer-causing in humans in 2000.
**3. Availability and Discontinuation:**
– Tab’s popularity declined with the introduction of Diet Coke in 1982.
– Cult following in the U.S., with 3 million cases sold in 2008.
– Available in various countries including the U.S., Canada, Spain, and the Virgin Islands.
– Discontinued in 2020 due to underperformance during the pandemic.
– Still available in select Coca-Cola stores as of June 2021.
**4. Miscellaneous and Legacy:**
– Save Tab Soda Committee formed to encourage Tab’s revival in 2022.
– Tab was available in Australia in the 1960s to 1980s and in the UK from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s.
– A group of Tab soda fans created the Save Tab Soda Committee in 2021.
– Coca-Cola discontinued Tab along with other brands in 2020 during the pandemic.
– Tab, a diet-soda pioneer, was considered a 70s icon.
– Tab superfans were passionate about bringing the soda back.
**5. External Links and References:**
– Various references and external links related to Tab’s history, product descriptions, caffeine content, discontinuation, and legacy.
– Notable mentions from Walker, Andrea; Cleveland Clinic; Belkin, Lisa; Cheryl Truman; and Benjamin Siegel.
– Links to Wikimedia Commons, Coca-Cola Company, legal cases involving Coca-Cola, and campaigns and slogans associated with Coca-Cola.
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, 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.
 | |
 355ml can of Tab | |
| Type | Soft drink |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | The Coca-Cola Company |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Introduced | 1963 |
| Discontinued | December 31, 2020 |
| Color | Caramel |
| Flavor | Diet cola |
| Variants | Tab Clear
|
| Related products | |
| Website | us |
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.
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. 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, 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.