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What Happens to the Coke in Coca-Cola?
- chrisacky 15y ago> “only two people know how to mix the 7x flavoring ingredient” To what extent are they allowed to keep this a secret? For example, I'm a vegetarian, so presumably they would have to declare if this secret ingredient contains animal products? (I'm sure it doesn't, it's just an example to portray the point). And I'm guessing one of the people who knows the secret ingredient is Moe Syzlak?
- y0ghur7_xxx 15y agoI think the secret is how to mix them and in what quantities, not what the ingredients are.
- nknight 15y agohttp://www.fsis.usda.gov/help/faqs_flavorings/index.asp http://www.fsis.usda.gov/help/faqs_flavorings/index.asp
- mbreese 15y agoFrom this page, to directly answer the question: What substances or ingredients can be listed as "natural flavor," "flavor," or "flavorings" rather than by a specific common or usual name? Spices (e.g., black pepper, basil, and ginger), spice extracts, essential oils, oleoresins, onion powder, garlic powder, celery powder, onion juice, and garlic juice are all ingredients that may be declared on labeling as "natural flavor," "flavor," or "flavoring." Spices, oleoresins, essential oils, and spice extracts are listed in the Food and Drug Administration regulations. Can the terms "dried meat or poultry stocks," "dried broth," "meat extracts," and "dried beef plasma" be listed on meat and poultry labels as "natural flavorings"? No. Substances derived from animal sources must be identified as to the species of origin on the label and be consistent with the definition established by Federal regulation. For example, the listing on the label would read "dried chicken stock," "lamb extract," or "dried beef plasma." So, to the original question: vegetarians can rest comfortably knowing that "natural flavors" don't contain meat.
- erikpukinskis 15y agoThis isn't exactly true. They needn't list the "species of origin". They just have to name the substance. They can list things like gelatin, glycerides, lecithin, guanine, and other lesser understood animal products by those obscure names.
- ars 15y agoIt wasn't always vegan. It was reformulated when they got Kosher certification, and incidentally the Rabbi who certifies it also knows what the ingredients are. See: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Kashering_Coke.html http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Kasherin...
- monochromatic 15y agoVery cool. This is something it never even occurred to me to wonder about, and here it is asked and answered.
- ars 15y agoIt's not only those two. The Rabbi who provides the Kosher certification for Coke also knows what the ingredients are. See: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Kashering_Coke.html http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Kasherin...
- shimon_e 15y agoMaybe he was one of the two? lol Cool story. Always heard parts of it growing up never actually saw it recorded.
- angstrom 15y agoSounds like lore. Won't let them fly on a plane together? I hope they don't ride in the same car to the airport since that's even more dangerous. (see my point?) It's possible only 2 people know it since 3 can't keep a secret. More likely anyone that knows it has signed NDAs on top of which they each know two versions of the same recipe with an indistinguishable flavoring difference due to a minor quantity differences. Either recipe were to get out it's obvious who leaked because the master copy is in the vault. The exact quantities are like a watermark that gives away the leaker. At any rate, if you have golden handcuffs you don't leak due to self preservation anyhow.
- philwelch 15y ago> Won't let them fly on a plane together? That's a common risk management tactic. It's literally in the textbook. Likewise, the Vice President flies on his own plane, Air Force Two, and never Air Force One. When the President and Vice President have to be in the same place at the same time, someone else in the chain of succession has to be kept somewhere else; most dramatically, when the President addresses a joint session of Congress, as in the State of the Union address, one cabinet member is named the "designated successor", is not allowed to attend, and is provided Presidential-level Secret Service protection for the duration.
- cynix 15y agoYou're vegetarian by your own choice. Nobody's required to tell you whether their product contains meat or not.
- chrisacky 15y agoThat's correct. I am a vegetarian by my own choice, but your response stinks of a lack of tolerance or appreciation for other people's choices. I don't know the actual laws when it comes to labelling of food products, but my initial question was more out of curiousity, not one of demanding that people say to the letter what is in their product. I often have to pass up on produce which should be clearly vegetarian because they don't label it with a "Suitable for" notice.
- cynix 15y agoYou said "presumably they would have to declare if this secret ingredient contains animal products" and I was pointing out that they shouldn't "have to", because unlike peanuts which might kill those who are allergic to it, meat won't kill vegetarians.
- gerggerg 15y agoSo coca-cola has a legal monopoly on the use of an ingredient. Seems like pretty unfair business practices to me.
- steve-howard 15y agoI imagine it's possible for some competitor to set up a similar arrangement. The government just likes to make it a PITA.
- mcantelon 15y ago>I imagine it's possible for some competitor to set up a similar arrangement. In theory. Coca-Cola is rumored to be pretty friendly with US intelligence and would likely lobby against a competitor getting a similar coca import arrangement.
- eli 15y agoSure, yeah, but lots of things you might want to do with a business require a permit or approval or waiver from the government. I'm not sure that is inherently unfair in practice.
- nknight 15y agoSounds like the Stepan Corporation has an effective monopoly on the manufacture of cocaine-free coca leaves. That really says nothing about a restriction on their use.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- eli 15y agoIf you haven't heard it before, This American Life did a cute piece on the Coke formula that includes what was probably (at one time) the full recipe. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/427/original-recipe http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/427/o...
- Terretta 15y agoArticle too long? Didn't quite read it all? "Bonus fact: Coca-Cola’s recipe contains a heavily guarded mystery flavoring, known as the “7X flavor.” In early 2011, This American Life broadcast an episode[1] discussing a potential early recipe for the drink, but almost certainly not the one in use today. Coke denied[2] that the program had discovered the true formula. In that episode, Mark Pendergrast, author of For God, Country, and Coca-Cola, an unauthorized history of the company (and beverage), told This American Life[3] that “only two people know how to mix the 7x flavoring ingredient” and that “[t]hose two people never travel on the same plane in case it crashes; it’s this carefully passed-on secret ritual and the formula is kept in a bank vault.”" 1. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/427/original-recipe http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/427/o... 2. http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/16/bubbly-buzz-coca-cola-says-its-secret-recipe-is-still-a-secret/ http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/16/bubbly-buzz-coca-cola-sa... 3. http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/15/is-this-the-real-thing-coca-colas-secret-formula-discovered/ http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/15/is-this-the-real-thing-c...
- kirillzubovsky 15y agoInteresting read, thank you! Tangentially, I want to note that Coke has a great marketing strategy! True or not, but "only two people who never travel together" makes the formula sound 1000x times better than "sugar water + stuff that's probably bad for you". In fact, when I was about 13 yrs old, I remember going on a tour of Coke factory, where they showed us the movie about the process, including "historial" references to coke being made a 100+ years ago. For a kid, their marketing was better than Coke itself.
- simonw 15y agoI was going to say that I found it hard to believe that Coca-Cola was only manufactured in the USA, and ask how the export of coca leaves to other countries worked. Then I looked up Coca-Cola on Wikipedia and saw that "The company produces concentrate, which is then sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers throughout the world". So I guess it is only manufactured in the USA.
- philwelch 15y agoWhich brings to mind an interesting tangent. There's a recent trend for importing glass bottles of Coca-Cola from Mexico. The reason is that unlike American Coke, Mexican Coke has sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. The reason American Coke has high fructose corn syrup is because of the US sugar tariff. So Mexican bottlers import American Coca-Cola concentrate, mix in carbonated water and some cane sugar of either Mexican or presumably Caribbean origin, and export the finished bottles of Coca-Cola back to the United States, simply to route around the damage of the US sugar tariff.
- barredo 15y agoAlso, it tastes better.
- erichocean 15y agoAnd is believed to be better for you.
- tptacek 15y agoBut probably isn't (I say, as I sip from a bottle of Mexican Coke).
- colonel_panic 15y agoI'd like to see a controlled experiment. Are you willing to take the Pepsi Challenge?
- TechNewb 15y agoIt would be great if Coke kept the same 'secret ingredients' instead of tainting them with the disgusting taste of high fructose corn syrup, which was not in the ingredient list. Coke is not serving coke as we know it, but 'new coke'. Many studies have been done on the negative effects of HFCS, not evening considering it's inferior taste to organic cane sugar. Stopped drinking any beverage product with High Fructose Corn Syrup, which means virtually every Coke product. see: http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/ http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/
- ig1 15y agoCoca-cola only uses HFCS in the US, if you buy imported Coke or Kosher Coke they'll have sugar rather than HFCS.
- nlh 15y agoFor a true cola-rific experience check out: A) Mexican Coca-Cola (sold in tall, skinny bottles: http://www.amazon.com/Mexican-Coca-Cola-Drink-12-Ounce/dp/B001SAWZOK http://www.amazon.com/Mexican-Coca-Cola-Drink-12-Ounce/dp/B0...) B) Kosher Coca-Cola (only available around Passover in select markets like NYC & Miami - look for the yellow cap on 2-liter bottles) Both are made with real, honest-to-goodness sugar, not HFCS. They taste better and are a fun treat. As a related note: There's a whole subculture of soda geeks (I presume you are as not-surprised as I was to discover this ;) and it's a fun mini-adventure to explore some of the things one can buy (i.e. vanilla coke w/ real sugar) See: http://www.sodafinder.com/products/coca-cola-coke-vanilla http://www.sodafinder.com/products/coca-cola-coke-vanilla
- rpt 15y agoThe author doesn't seem to make the connection, but the Mallinckrodt Corporation's cocaine hydrochloride can also be found at your favorite neighborhood retailers as a white powder for ~$80 / gram. It's 'regular' cocaine.
- aninteger 15y agoI assume you mean it's available at those neighborhood retailer pharmacies (CVS, Walgreens?) and with a prescription? Could you explain more?
- rickyconnolly 15y agoCocaine hydrochloride IS cocaine, the fine white powder drug. It is distinct from free base cocaine, commonly known as 'crack', which is made by stripping the hydrochloride ion using a strong alkali. Crack is popular because the free base form is more pharmacologically active, meaning you get more bang for the same price, or alternatively, the same bang for a lower price.
- bryanh 15y agoI think "favorite neighborhood retailers" means "shady but friendly local drug dealers".
- marshray 15y agoI don't know if CVS or Walgreens would have a reason to stock in at the local store, but they could likely get it from their regular distribution. Yes, a medical doctor can prescribe this but it takes considerable extra paperwork (and receives DEA scrutiny). It would likely be more common in a hospital setting, usually as one ingredient in a compound.
- shabble 15y agoI'd like to think that they'd have better purity controls than the more...informal distributors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_agent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_agent And more specifically, Levamisole is becoming something of a hot topic as a dangerous, but desirable for its ability to pass most purity tests. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1955112,00.html http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1955112,00.ht... is one overview. The DEA journal Microgram has covered it a few times as well.
- ippisl 15y agoOne can get pretty close to the coca-cola formula using chemical analysis. i think it would be a good documentary show to do this in CSI miami style, and i bet funding wouldn't be that hard to get :)
- shabble 15y agoPretty sure they already do: http://www.rense.com/general7/whyy.htm http://www.rense.com/general7/whyy.htm Also, I have no real way to confirm, but I've heard (via friend of a friend: suspicion +10) quite a big part of a high-value flavour science is not just now it tastes, but that it is hard to reproduce faithfully, by means of unnecessary extra additives, novel process control requirements, and unusual synergistic effects.
- dot 15y agoI wonder if there's cola that is still made with active coca ingredients somewhere in the world. I believe chewing on coca leaves is legal in some parts of South America and cocaine is legal in some european countries... with the recent "boutique soda" craze, it must exist. edit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/14/coca-colla-real-thing-bolivia http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/14/coca-colla-real-...
- DanBC 15y agoSee also Coca Brynco: (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/19/us-bolivia-coca-idUSTRE70I0G920110119 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/19/us-bolivia-coca-id...)
- pilsetnieks 15y agoIt is decriminalized in Portugal but that is not the same as being legal. I'm fairly certain that it is not legal in any European country and I know for a fact that it is in the EU controlled substances list and is not legal in the EU except for a very few and very narrow uses in medicine and pharmacology.
- macuenca 15y agoAlso, according to Wikipedia[1] Coca Sek, a coca leaves based soda is still sold in Colombia, even though is was removed from super markets shelves. I was living in Colombia when it was launched. It had a big media coverage, so I tried it once just out of curiosity. It tasted really really bad and I didn't notice any side effects after managing to drink just half bottle. It never took off. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_Sek http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_Sek
- pedrolll 15y agoIn Peru and Bolivia, coca leaves are sold just about everywhere. A good tasting tea is made from them, and people chew them while hiking on the mountains and so on. The effects are similar to caffeine. I didn't see any coca soft drinks there, though.
- donky_cong 15y agoCan someone explain how Coca-Cola is still able to keep this a secret ? The company sells enough concentrate to produce millions of litters world-wide yearly. Surely there are hundreds of trucks entering and leaving the facility, and by now the ingredients and their dosages are quite know.
- mistercow 15y agoThe whole "secret formula" thing is more of a marketing gimmick than anything.
- pbhjpbhj 15y agocf Kung Fu Panda!
- Jach 15y agoIndeed, I suspect it's pure marketing hyperbole. Even if only two humans currently know, the machines must know to mass-produce it. Their best-kept out-in-the-open secret in my opinion is the way they are involved (as are others) with things like murdered union leaders and generally poor living standards in places like Colombia and other nations.
- kijin 15y agoEven if someone observing the flow of incoming and outgoing trucks could determine the ingredients and their precise proportions, it's the cooking method that produces the right taste, and someone who counts trucks won't be able to figure that out. You can sniff packets in my LAN all day long, but that won't tell you 100% of things that go on inside my computer. Tricking me to install spyware on my computer, on the other hand, is a completely different matter. If the Coca-Cola formula is known, it'll be because of corporate espionage and not something you can tell from publicly available data.
- Alex3917 15y ago"n fact, the United States (and most other nations) expressly prohibits the sale and trade of coca leaves." Wouldn't Jeff Bezos be in jail then, considering that they are sold on Amazon?
- DanBC 15y agoThis report[1], from 2003, shows some unpleasant behaviour from Coca-Cola. (This was stopped by local officials) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3096893.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3096893.stm) > Waste product from a Coca-Cola plant in India which the company provides as fertiliser for local farmers contains toxic chemicals, a BBC study has found. Dangerous levels of the known carcinogen cadmium have been found in the sludge produced from the plant in the southern state of Kerala The photographer Sharad Haksar had some trouble from Coca-Cola after using their brandname in some of his art. (http://www.indiaresource.org/news/2005/1077.html http://www.indiaresource.org/news/2005/1077.html) Be cautious when importing foodstuffs. Sometimes they're not produced to the high standards you'd like. I'm not sure how reliable this source is (seems a bit flame-baity) but it suggests that Indian versions of some soft drinks (not just Coca-Cola) are high in pesticides. (http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2006/cokepoisoning.html http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2006/cokepoisoni...) > In blatant disregard for lives in India, the Coca-Cola company continues to sell products in India with high levels of pesticides even today. Coca-Cola maintains that its products in India are completely safe, and that it has one global standard for all its products. > The reality, however, is very different. On at least 10 occasions since January 2005, the US Food and Drug Administration has rejected the shipment of Coca-Cola products made in India coming into the US, on the grounds that they do not conform to US laws and that they are unsafe for the US public. --- [1] It is frustrating when the BBC uses their news programmes and websites to promote their other programmes. "Face the Facts" is a reasonable investigative programme. Here's the website for it: (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007tmlp http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007tmlp)
- hoodq19 15y agoMaybe I've been watching too much Breaking Bad but there's a great opportunity here for someone to "acquire" the pre-processed shipments in Maywood NJ. Who wants to be my co-founder on this project? There's gotta be Pinkman out there to my Walter. C'mon!!!
- cinquemb 15y agoMakes me want to try and make something out of an ingredient that could be banned in the future :P
- wccrawford 15y agoI've long known that CocaCola affects me differently than most people. For a long time, I thought it was the caffeine in it, but then I drank Mt Dew (with more caffeine) and didn't have the same problems. Basically, it's really addictive to me. If I start drinking it, I'll feel the need to drink more and more until I'm drinking enough that it makes me physically ill each day... And I will just continue. It took me a while to get off it, and other caffeinated drinks do not affect me in the same way. I didn't realized, until now, that they still used an extract from the coca leaf. That seems like it's different from every other drink out there, and maybe that's why it affects me differently. Hopefully this knowledge can help strengthen my resolve to stay off of it. It's really sad, too, because I love the flavor. I just can't handle it.
- ivan78 15y agoMe too. I highly suspect Coca Cola was specifically designed in a way that it can not quench one's thirst. Once you open a bottle, you can not stop drinking it until it is finished. That's why I completely stopped drinking Coca Cola few years ago.
- DanLivesHere 15y agoI wrote this! Sweet! It's from my email newsletter, http://dlewis.net/nik http://dlewis.net/nik -- GOOD republished it w/my permission :) Love seeing it discussed here!
- BCM43 15y agoIs there an rss feed of that I could subscribe to instead?
- nazar 15y agoHonest question: Whats Coke and whats Coca-Cola. In some countries they sell it as "Coke". Here in Turkmenistan it's Coca-Cola. Is it a branding stuff? Or something different?
- eru 15y agoReading the first paragraph of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_cola https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_cola will enlighten you.
- adrian201 15y agoCoca Cola played an intricate role in race relations in 20th century America. The removal of cocaine from this popular beverage was not one of choice, but one required to help squelch concerns that the product lead to the degradation of society. Specifically increased violence from Blacks and miscegenation. I saw a documentary on it awhile back but can't remember the name. Here's a link that explains a little more http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/384/is-it-true-coca-cola-once-contained-cocaine http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/384/is-it-true-coca....
- GreekOphion 15y agoIt almost impossible to get 100% of the cocaine out of the leaves and the coke you drink everyday probably has small traces of cocaine in it.