Comment by dzonga
10 hours ago
to me the impressive thing is Coca Cola was formulated in the 1800s and yet even with modern equipment - most people fail to replicate it.
the original chemist who made Coca Cola was a genius
10 hours ago
to me the impressive thing is Coca Cola was formulated in the 1800s and yet even with modern equipment - most people fail to replicate it.
the original chemist who made Coca Cola was a genius
Inventing and replicating face different challenges though.
You're assuming that the company uses the same formula as then. That would be really awesome.
The original formula contained coca leaves (the raw material for cocaine) and extract from kola seeds (that's where the name comes from).
Beverages containing cocaine were very common until the beginning of the century (search for "Vin Mariani"). Even today you can buy coca leaves in the supermarkets of some Latin American countries (Bolivia, Peru, etc).
An huge corporation using the raw material of cocaine to produce the most popular soda in the world would be the funniest story of our times.
> An huge corporation using the raw material of cocaine to produce the most popular soda in the world would be the funniest story of our times.
Coca Cola does still use coca leaves for its flavor:
"In a telephone interview from Coca-Cola's Atlanta headquarters, Randy Donaldson, a company spokesman, said, ''Ingredients from the coca leaf are used, but there is no cocaine in it and it is all tightly overseen by regulatory authorities.''"
...
"Bales of coca destined for Stepan and, ultimately, for Coca-Cola are shipped to the Maywood plant through ports in New York and New Jersey, Mr. O'Brien said. Each shipment carries its own import permit, also issued by the D.E.A."
* https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/01/business/how-coca-cola-ob...