Cocaine in Coca-Cola? Peppercorns in Dr. Pepper? Seaweed in Yoo-Hoo?
We investigate what really is in these drinks, and more!

There are a lot of soft-drinks, pop, sodas, or whatever you want to label them on the market out there. What is in them? What makes one drink more popular than the other? Marketing? Flavour? Mystique? Here we are going to reveal a few misconceptions about what we are drinking. We will begin with probably the most popular soft-drink on the planet, Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola. Coke. Cola. All these names are synonymous with the Coca-Cola brand soft drink. The distinctive, and heavily protected, logo can be seen in nearly every country on earth. There is undoubtedly marketing genius behind every step that the company makes. There is virtually no- one around who would not recognise the logo or the name. With the lions share of the soda market, you would expect many imitators and pretenders to the Coca-Cola throne. And you would be right. Many have tried and failed, some come very close. Some compete almost head to head. This is why Coca-Cola wanted to keep what it was selling as secret as possible. But, how do they achieve this when their product is so available that anyone can copy it? Surely we can just go to the local store, buy a can, then take it to an industrial chemist or laboratory and have it analysed. And this is exactly what happens. With modern tools any lab can determine exactly what comprises just about any compound known. With this in mind, how come Coca Cola can still lead the way? Well, their drink just tastes better than other brands, and in some ways it doesn't really matter what is in it. Pepsi is their largest competitor. It is in no doubt that Coke know what is in Pepsi's cola and vice versa. Pepsi could probably create an exact copy of Coke, but really, what is the point? Coke has more resources and any resulting marketing war would hurt both companies. Pepsi has instead created it's own market and does very well with it's own flavour of cola and associated drinks.

Most colas contain similar ingredients. It is generally acknowledged that the basic ingredients that give cola it's flavouring are: citrus, cinnamon and vanilla. These three compounds are combined to form a fantasia flavour, (a new flavour created by blending other flavours), with the philosophy that none of the flavours should be more prevalent than the others. Certainly, some cheaper 'no frills' colas taste more of cinnamon or vanilla than the higher end blends. So that's the cola flavour, but what about the other ingredients? Coca Cola has a complex blend of oils, acids and extracts. It is the differences in these compounds that change the flavour of the finished product. It is no secret that Coke contains sugar, caffeine, carbonated water, caramel colour, phosphoric acid and natural flavourings. That much is disclosed on the label. What really sets Coke apart is under the 'natural flavouring' banner.

Over the years (Coca-Cola was founded in the mid 1880's) there have been many guesses as to what these ingredients were. Some of these guesses may have been correct, and the formula may have also been changed. At one point it was rumoured that it contained pig's blood, which resulted in low sales to African Moslems, or peanuts (because the then Coke president owned a peanut farm). These rumours were just that, rumours. At one point Lime Juice was detected in analysis. This has been denied by Coca-Cola but there is evidence to show that at some time Coke did indeed contain it, more fuel to fire that assumption that the formula has changed somewhat over the years. People in the industry also refer to Pepsi as being more 'lemon' flavoured than Coke, and as we shall see fruit extracts do play a part in cola formulae.

So, one of the biggest questions has always been 'Is there cocaine in Coca-Cola?' The answer is no, and yes. Coke is one of the only companies that uses actual coca leaf extract in it's formula. Although the cocaine is leached from the leaves by a stringent process, it is impossible to remove every last trace of it. (One wonders where all the cocaine they extract goes to, they must have a HUGE output of this substance, maybe this is why they do so well marketing it?? ...Ed.) So it is not hard to form an argument that, Yes, there is cocaine in Coca-Cola. The amount however is so small so as to be negligible. Until 1903, Coke used the full amount of cocaine in it's coca extract. Since then , Coke has taken great pains to remove it from the coca leaf extract. Still, even before 1903 the amount contained is minimal. There is very little coca extract in Coke (they were even accused of having none!). One analysis put the amount in 28 grams of Coke syrup at 2.6 mg (0.04 grains). In small doses cocaine has about the stimulant effect of a dose of caffeine ten times larger. So the cocaine in an 28 grams of old syrup would have the effect of 26 mg of caffeine, and there is about 60 mg of caffeine in a cup of tea! So, even in old Coke, the stimulant effect would have come from the caffeine, not the cocaine. In modern terms, if a line of uncut cocaine is about 50 mg, then it would take nearly 580g of the old syrup to get the same amount of cocaine. We think someone would get sick from the sugar, phosphoric acid or caffeine before feeling any effects from cocaine, not an efficient way of taking that drug!

For all intents and purposes, there is no cocaine in Coca-Cola. Tests done over the years have found no appreciable traces in the beverage at all. Coke's decocanizing process is good enough as far as drug laws are concerned. Still, to the answer 'Is there cocaine in Coca-Cola?', the answer must remain yes, however insignificant that amount may be.

So What Else is in Coke Then? Click here to find out.

 And What About Those Other Drinks? Find out here. 

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