Squirt (drink)

For other uses, see the soft drink.

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Ruby Red Squirt 12-Packs

Squirt is a caffeine-free citrus-flavored soft drink created in 1938 by Herb Bishop. Bishop gave Squirt its name because the drink seemed to "squirt" into your mouth like a freshly squeezed grapefruit. Squirt is naturally flavored and contains grapefruit juice (less than 1%). Another version, Ruby-Red Squirt, which is a citrus-berry flavor and contains caffeine, was created in 1993.

A Diet Squirt was also introduced. Diet Squirt is similar to Fresca. In 1983, Diet Squirt became the first soft drink in the United States to be sweetened with aspartame. Diet Squirt is carbonated with a white tint to it. A vitamin-C-enriched Diet Squirt Plus was briefly marketed in the mid 1980s.

Wal-Mart sells a product similar to Squirt, named simply "Grapefruit." Unlike other Wal-Mart-branded sodas which are available chain-wide, the availability of Grapefruit is apparently limited to markets in which Squirt is popular.

Ownership of the Squirt brand has changed hands several times and is currently owned by the British Cadbury Schweppes. In the United States the brand is produced under the authority of Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc.