
What Happens to the Coke in Coca-Cola? - gruseom
http://www.good.is/post/regulators-mount-up-what-happens-to-the-coke-in-coca-cola/
======
simonw
I 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
Which 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_.

~~~
dhughes
HFCS 55% fructose 45% glucose

Sucrose (regular sugar) 50% fructose 50% glucose

Not much of a difference.

~~~
surrealize
? Sucrose is sucrose. It's its own molecule. The only way you could describe
it as 50% fructose 50% glucose is if you also described water as 66% hydrogen
and 33% oxygen.

~~~
dhughes
I'm not a biologist or chemical engineer I'm just going by the information I
can find and decipher.

If the sucrose molecule can be broken down/decomposed into two other molecules
one fructose and the other glucose is that not accurate?

From what I understood sucrose is composed of fructose (an isomer of glucose)
and glucose of which the molecule sucrose is comprised of. The human body
breaks down sucrose and then fructose in the liver into just glucose for the
body to use for fuel.

~~~
surrealize
Yes, a sucrose molecule can be broken down. But the full sucrose molecule
still behaves differently from the glucose/fructose mix that it was being
compared to. Even if the glucose/fructose mix was exactly 50%/50%, that
mixture of glucose and fructose molecules would still behave differently from
a pure sucrose solution.

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DanLivesHere
I wrote this! Sweet! It's from my email newsletter, <http://dlewis.net/nik>
\-- GOOD republished it w/my permission :) Love seeing it discussed here!

~~~
BCM43
Is there an rss feed of that I could subscribe to instead?

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rpt
The 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
I assume you mean it's available at those neighborhood retailer pharmacies
(CVS, Walgreens?) and with a prescription? Could you explain more?

~~~
rickyconnolly
Cocaine 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.

------
wccrawford
I'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
Me 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.

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dot
I 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-...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/14/coca-colla-real-thing-
bolivia)

~~~
pilsetnieks
It 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.

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gerggerg
So coca-cola has a legal monopoly on the use of an ingredient. Seems like
pretty unfair business practices to me.

~~~
tptacek
Coca-Cola's market dominance probably has epsilon to do with their
formulation.

~~~
gerggerg
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but if not, why then would they regard
their formula as such a secret that the only two people allowed to know it may
not fly together in case the plane should go down? As a diversion form their
business practices?

~~~
joeyh
It's a marketing tactic.

~~~
brk
This.

Especially when it also mentions the recipe is stored in a vault. BOTH recipe
mixers could instantly cease to exist and the Coca Cola company would not miss
a beat in terms of selling mass quantities of their product.

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kirillzubovsky
Interesting 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.

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TechNewb
It 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/>

~~~
nlh
For 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/B0...](http://www.amazon.com/Mexican-Coca-Cola-
Drink-12-Ounce/dp/B001SAWZOK)) 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>

~~~
there
If you don't want to pay nearly double the cost of the product just to ship
Mexican coke via Amazon, try your local Mexican grocery store. The one down
the street from me in Chicago (at Ashland & Beach) sells cases of 24 bottles
for $24.81 including tax.

~~~
philwelch
Or Costco, for that matter.

There are two varieties of Mexican Coke I've found in the wild (i.e. Seattle
corner stores), the 12 ounce bottles linked above and 500mL "Medio Litro"
bottles. The Medio Litros are closer to a 20oz bottle while the 12 ounce
bottles are the same as a can in terms of capacity.

------
ippisl
One 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
Pretty sure they already do:

<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.

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Alex3917
"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?

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DanBC
This 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>)

> _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>)

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/cokepoisoni...](http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2006/cokepoisoning.html))

> _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>)

------
chrisacky
> “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?

~~~
nknight
<http://www.fsis.usda.gov/help/faqs_flavorings/index.asp>

~~~
mbreese
From 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
This 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
It 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/Kasherin...](http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Kashering_Coke.html)

------
adrian201
Coca 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...](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/384/is-it-true-coca-
cola-once-contained-cocaine).

------
nazar
Honest 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
Reading the first paragraph of <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_cola> will
enlighten you.

------
hoodq19
Maybe 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!!!

------
donky_cong
Can 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
The whole "secret formula" thing is more of a marketing gimmick than anything.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
cf Kung Fu Panda!

------
cinquemb
Makes me want to try and make something out of an ingredient that could be
banned in the future :P

------
eli
If 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/o...](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/427/original-recipe)

~~~
Terretta
Article 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/o...](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/427/original-recipe)

2\. [http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/16/bubbly-buzz-coca-cola-
sa...](http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/16/bubbly-buzz-coca-cola-says-its-
secret-recipe-is-still-a-secret/)

3\. [http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/15/is-this-the-real-
thing-c...](http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/15/is-this-the-real-thing-coca-
colas-secret-formula-discovered/)

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GreekOphion
It 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.

