If you like Diet Coke you may want to take advantage of any sales now; soda giant Coca-Cola says that the Coronavirus could cause shortages of the drink.

Some of Diet Coke’s ingredients are exported from China, ground zero for the deadly virus that has already killed over 2,000.  As market restrictions on production and exports are tightened to prevent virus outbreaks, Coke says it may be short on ingredients like Splenda, the stuff that sweetens DietCoke.

In its annual report this week, Coca-Cola cited “delays in the production and export” of ingredients sourced from China, including zero-calorie sweeteners used in several of its diet products, as a result of the Corona virus outbreak.
They also followed up with this public statement:

Coca-Cola says, ”We are confident in our supply chain as we have limited sourcing from China and there will not be any impact on consumers. As matter of routine, we maintain business continuity plans throughout the world including maintaining alternative procurement sources in other regions of the world.”

As of Wednesday, the Corona virus has infected more than 81,900 people in 41 countries and killed 2,770 since the outbreak began in China in December.

This whole story has sent Diet Coke worshipers into panic on Twitter with tweets like “The Corona virus can just take me if Diet Coke is going to be in short supply.”

Susan Saunders 2/27/20