This is not the "secret formula" of Coca-Cola that we will discuss in this series "the substances we hide .... big brands" . No, beyond the commercial secret of the composition of Coca Cola, which acts as advertising much more than industrial secrecy, it is truly pest damage that we will be interested. But these ravages do not happen where we expected them ...
Coca - A secret formula that would have things to hide
For the 125th anniversary of the creation in December 2011, the Coca-Cola Company has discreetly (while making it known) moved the secret formula of its composition from an Atlanta bank to a building simply called World of Coca-Cola. Cola. The purpose of this move?
A pub shot of course because the composition of the drink invented by pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886, known to a small handful of insiders, will not be disclosed soon ... Object of fantasies, we must not expect much of this formula. On the one hand because its original composition, already disclosed, has probably been changed for a century, and secondly because the danger does not come from where one believes.
Cocaine in Coca-Cola? !
In 1979, a journalist, Charles Salter, made a noise because he was sure there was "coke in the Coke". Why ? Because the inventor of Coke was a cocaine addict.
His "scoop" was based on a document from 1910 that he believed reproduced the authentic recipe of Coca-Cola: nutmeg, lemon, alcohol, orange, coriander, cinnamon ... and coca leaves! Indeed, in its early days, Coca-Cola was indeed a drug and contained a little cocaine. Some say there would still be some because the Coca-Cola Company still imports coca leaves to rid them of cocaine before adding them to the drink. And in fact, none of the labs that analyzed the Coca Cola found any trace of drugs in the bubbles of Coca ... So it is not on this ground that we must look for the little beast.
Alcohol in Coca-Cola?
Here too, the charge does not make much sense: certainly the original composition, revealed by an American media (The American Life) describes well the presence of alcohol, but only in the composition of one of the aromas : aroma 7x. L'Express magazine did a theoretical analysis to calculate how much Coca-Cola contains alcohol because of this unique 7x aroma. Result, at a percentage of alcohol between 0.001 and 0.0009%. As this aroma represents less than 3% of Coca-Cola's 'syrup', the overall alcohol content is still diluted and therefore .... negligible.
Coca-Cola would be corrosive?
Coca-Cola would contain an acid: the coca syrup would be delivered in barrels marked "corrosive". But there is not much new: everyone knows the story of the spoon that is left in the Coke all night and that springs impeccable in the morning. The "cleansing" virtues of Coca are still well known and are very popular with tourist tourists.
Coca-Cola rightly points out that many other foods (tomato juice, wine, fruit juice, milk, soft drinks without alcohol) contain a small amount of acid, much lower than that which is naturally present in the stomach . These foods all have a corrosive action on contact with metal objects. There is not any danger for human health.
Sugar is the true dietary point of Coca
As our nutritionist confirms, the most troublesome ingredient in Coca-Cola is simply sugar. Drinking 1 liter of Coca Cola means swallowing 16 pieces of sugar! Far too much if you consider that an American, who would swallow 170 liters a year would consume the equivalent of 20 kilos of sugar!
Sugar is largely responsible for the soda addiction that children (and adults) develop. To avoid the cardiovascular risks, some fall back on the Coca Light but, problem, it contains sweeteners which are far from being without inconvenience! Worse, the light soda increases the health risks!
- Each new soda consumed per day increases a child's risk of obesity by 60% according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
- Each new soda consumed per day increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by 19% in men,
- Drinking one or two sugary drinks a day increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25%.
- Beverages containing aspartame are dangerous: there are 92 adverse health effects for aspartame alone.
As a result, like fast food, Nutella, Kinder, Coca-Cola is accused of favoring the dramatic increase of childhood obesity in many countries. According to a known endocrinologist at the University of California, the situation is critical: the obese children he cares for (1) lose 20 to 30 years of life expectancy compared to children of the previous generation. In other words, the sugar in these drinks is as much damage as if these children smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day. Scary.
Carcinogens in Coca
Since her pre-adolescence, journalist Olivia Mokiejewski has swallowed 20,000 cans of Coca-Cola, 7 tons of soda! She decided to find out what's really in the world's most famous drink. She wants to know what she is drinking and has conducted the investigation.
She asks the question at Coca-Cola headquarters. It is answered: "In Coke, there is carbonated water, sugar, natural flavors and plant extracts. - Oh? But what natural flavors and plant extracts? - That's part of the secret recipe "(2). Ah yes, the one that is in the famous safe.
Coca - The dyes (sometimes) prohibited
With the dye E150d, we have a good example of the behavior of some multinationals: they do not put themselves outlawed, but they do not go beyond it, they do not take the lead ... This dye E150d therefore, is the caramel color that gives its characteristic color to Coca. It would be carcinogenic. That's why the state of California has lowered its maximum rate to 29 mg per can (except to indicate on the package that the dye can cause cancer).
However, elsewhere in the United States and around the world, when regulations do not require it, Coca-Cola continues to sell its soda with a higher rate of this potentially dangerous component. In France, we drink Coke which contains 79 mg of E150d.
The US brand has recently been forced to remove another chemical dye, called "caramel dye", which is actually 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI), under pressure from an American consumer association. Although not all scientists agree and the official health administration is hesitant, this association Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) supports, on the basis of a scientific study, a substance carcinogen is formed when ammonia and / or sulphites are used with 4-MEI to give Coca-Cola its brown color. Worse, in humans the substance causes leukaemias. Charming !
> The US CSPI stresses that this artificial color does not offer any nutritional benefit to sodas. Why keep it while there are alternatives to give the brown-black color, such as carrots and beets, for example.The association claims that the dye is renamed: by calling it "caramel coloring from ammonia and sulphite" or "chemically modified caramel coloring", consumers will no longer believe (wrongly) that Coke is made with caramel. Again, Coca-Cola Company, which does not want warning messages on the labels of its bottles and cans, is committed to changing its recipe in California, while denying that 4-MEI is dangerous to health. .
Coca - The hidden face of the world's most powerful brand
"Refresh the world" with bottles of Coca Cola
The brand that wants to "refresh the world" needs a lot of water, a lot of water: liters of water used by the Coca Cola company for the production of its drinks. Indeed, on the billions of liters, a little less than 40% are used for the production of drinks. The remaining 60% of water is used in the soda making process: for rinsing, heating or air conditioning. In other words, to make 1 liter of drink, the company uses an average of 2.5 liters of water
In France, Coca-Cola has optimized water consumption: to produce 1 liter of drink, we consume 1.46 liters of water, against 1.54 liters three years ago. The weight of packaging has also been reduced: 1 PET of 1.5 l weighs today 40 g, against 43 g a few years ago.
The Coca Cola Empire
Coca-Cola is the largest brand in the world and is also the world's best-selling soda. Every day, the multinational sells nearly 2 billion bottles worldwide.
The French soda market is still "underdeveloped" according to Coca-Cola: if France is index 100, Great Britain is 200 and Belgium 300.
Annual consumption per inhabitant / year - Source image: wikipedia
Planetoscope: Consumption of Coca Cola in the worldThe company Coca Cola entrusts its production to "anchos bottlers" who are bottlers who animate the various national or regional markets and to which it delivers its famous secret syrup.
Where does the water supply for the billions of liters of Coca Cola sold in North America come from?
Answer: it comes from groundwater in every region of the world. For North America, it comes from San Cristobal, in a water table of Chiapas in Mexico. Why there ? Probably because the former Mexican President from 2000 to 2006, Vicente Fox, was also ... the former president of Coca-Cola in Mexico. The problem is not there, well, but in the absurdity of a supply. Judge instead:
- Coca-Cola pays to collect 750,000 liters of water from the water table a day, resulting in water scarcity and sometimes cuts.
- Locals, often Indians, then drink something else: rainwater whenever possible and most often end up drinking (!) While drinking ... Coca Cola. Absurd.
- Bottom line: Mexicans as a whole have become the largest consumers of Coca-Cola in the world (225 liters per year per person) and it is expected that soon 100% of Mexicans will become obese!
Like many large groups, it seeks to change by starting many CSR projects or Sustainable Development. It makes efforts on packaging, water consumption, transport, etc.
Still, drinking soda in such large quantities poses real problems of dietetics and public health (not to mention environment). Coca marketing is indeed so powerful that some people come to drink nothing else, during and out of meals!
How to remind them of the pleasure of a good fresh water?
Coke, the formula is not so secret for a long time
It's been a long time since the recipe for Coke was published in the press: already in 1979 the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a photo showing a recipe written on the supposed notebook of John Pemberton, the inventor pharmacist. On the internet, the list of ingredients was also published by Joe Jacobs, who owned the pharmacy where the first Coca-Cola was sold. No surprise, except for the presence of plum juice and clover.
The (supposed) Coca-Cola recipe
Here is the translation of the alleged Coca-Cola recipe. The quantities indicated are therefore not absolutely accurate but can be found in the original recipe in English). Coca-Cola contains:
- Water: 10 l + carbon dioxide - for a sparkling and refreshing aroma
- Phosphoric acid: obtained from natural minerals and raw phosphorus, giving Coca-Cola a sparkling and full-bodied note
- Citric acid: 85 ml
- Caffeine: 28 ml, to invigorate the drink (also contained in tea, coffee and even in chocolate). Its bitter aroma, in the secret formula, gives Coca-Cola a refreshing, discreetly stimulating effect.
- Sugar: 30 (unit of measurement illegible on the document); a natural staple, produced from sugar cane or sugar beets
- Lemon juice: 946 ml
- Vanilla: 28 ml
- Caramel: 42.5 ml or more: gives Coca-Cola its brown color. Liquid caramel is obtained by heating sugar with a dry heat source. The sugar then takes on its dark color and its liquid consistency (sugar liquor) to obtain a pungent roasting aroma,
- "Aroma 7X", based on essential oils (use 56.6 ml of this flavor for 18.9 l of syrup),
- Alcohol: 227 ml
- Essential oil of orange: 20 drops
- Essential oil of lemon: 30 drops
- Essential oil of nutmeg: 10 drops
- (Essential oil?) Coriander: 5 drops
- (Essential oil?) Neroli: 10 drops
- (Essential oil?) Cinnamon: 10 drops
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