Coke's Recipe To Stay, Despite Scare Claim

[webfact]

Coke's recipe to stay, despite scare claim

Amy McNeilage

Coca-Cola says it will not be altering their top secret recipe, despite widespread reports to the contrary.

ATLANTA: -- The beverage company has confirmed it will be making changes to way the soft drink is manufactured in California to avoid having to put cancer warning labels on their beverages. This, however, will not affect the 125-year-old recipe itself or the way the drink tastes.

The move came amid mounting pressure from an American consumer watchdog group to ban an additive used in the caramel colouring of cola.

The compound under debate is called 4-MEI and the Center for Science in the Public Interest claims it causes cancer. [more...]

Full story: http://www.smh.com.a...0309-1uosv.html

-- smh.com.au 2012-03-09

[chuckd]

I've been drinking Coca Cola over 70 years and have not developed cancer yet. What a waste of time and money this exercise will be.

[Scott]

A troll post has been deleted.

[flying]

Lets face it they do not know what causes cancer.......They never did

[BookMan]

Cannot see Coke changing their recipe. Bit of a failure twenty odd years when they did that with 'New Coke'.

if Coke had to issue a warning label, wouldn't all Cole makers be similar?

Come to think of it... I don't even drink the stuff...

[Credo]

Lets face it they do not know what causes cancer.......They never did

Gee-wiz, I seldom agree with you Flying, but I think we're on the same page on this one.

(I don't always agree with you, but I seldom fully disagree with you)

There are substances that seem to be very closely and consistently linked to cancer. I think if Coca Cola caused cancer there would a really, really high rate of cancer in a lot of places in the world.

[Scott]

Neither do I. But since I do eat and drink water and breathe air, I am probably a walking carcinogenic time-bomb.

[hyperdimension]

Is the recipe really "top-secret"? Surely some scientists can analyze and reverse engineer the liquid to discover the ingredients.

[Jingthing]

Is the recipe really "top-secret"? Surely some scientists can analyze and reverse engineer the liquid to discover the ingredients.

It really is top secret. The people at Coke are nutsoid about it. I would have liked to have had the chance to try the original recipe though!

Edited March 9, 2012 by Jingthing

[BookMan]

Is the recipe really "top-secret"? Surely some scientists can analyze and reverse engineer the liquid to discover the ingredients.

It really is top secret. The people at Coke are nutsoid about it. I would have liked to have the chance to try the original recipe though!

That's where they got the word Cooke from wasn't it?

I think the secret recipe thing is just a lot of malarky these days. An analysis would be able to say what parts of what percentage wise it contains. It has become a marketing ploy.

[Jingthing]

I'm sure they could get it very close, but how would they know the exact timing, amounts, and procedure? Of course its related to marketing.

[Walkabout]

Extract from http://grist.org dated 2011-02-16:

“When you think of “caramel,” you probably imagine cooking sugar until it turns brown. But that’s not quite what soda manufacturers do to blacken carbonated water for cola. According to CSPI, here’s what they do:

Caramel Color IV (synonyms: ammonia sulfite process caramel, sulfite ammonia caramel, sulfite ammonia process caramel, acid-proof caramel, beverage caramel, and soft-drink caramel) is prepared by the controlled heat treatment of carbohydrates with ammonium-containing and sulfite-containing compounds.

So, they take carbohydrates and cook them up with ammonia-based chemicals. In addition to dark color, the process also yields a carcinogenic chemical called 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MI for short. CSPI points to studies on both rats and mice fed 4-MI showing significant carcinogenic effects.

Evidence of 4-MI’s cancer-causing power is so strong, CSPI points out, that just last month, the state of California added [PDF] the substance to its list of “chemicals known to the state to cause cancer.” “California has determined that [4-MI] levels above 16 micrograms per day pose a significant risk,” CSPI reports. How much is in a can of cola? According to CSPI, 130 micrograms — eight times higher than California’s danger threshold. Drink two cans per day, and you’re ingesting 16 times the level deemed dangerous by California.”

BTW: When reacted with sulfites, caramel color retains traces of sulfite after processing. Further, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies and regulates caramel color in Title 21 CFR 73.85 as a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) color additive EXEMPT FROM CERTIFICATION.

As for the claim that Coca-cola never changed their receipt in 125 year, that is pure commercial talk. The coca disappeared from the regular formula; phosphoric acid (as indicated on the can) replaced another one I cannot remember; in most western countries, natural caramel was replaced with an industrial substitute (which legislation allowed to be called caramel!); the cheaper high-fructose corn syrup has replaced the natural sugar (some of my Californian acquaintances claim to taste the difference between a US regular Coke with HFCS and a Mexican Coke with sugar from cane);….

[w11guy]

I've been drinking Coca Cola over 70 years and have not developed cancer yet. What a waste of time and money this exercise will be.

And some people smoke and don't get cancer. That doesn't mean that cigarettes don't cause cancer. Maybe you are just lucky or maybe you have cancer but you aren't yet aware of it. Coke is extremely bad for health, so why anyone drinks it I've no idea.

[w11guy]

Lets face it they do not know what causes cancer.......They never did

Many cause of cancer are known. Ask any cancer doctor and he'll be able to tell you. Or just Google it. Most causes have been known for decades. Mostly it's lifestyle related. Also people working in certain industries are more prone to cancer.

[w11guy]

Lets face it they do not know what causes cancer.......They never did

Gee-wiz, I seldom agree with you Flying, but I think we're on the same page on this one.

(I don't always agree with you, but I seldom fully disagree with you)

There are substances that seem to be very closely and consistently linked to cancer. I think if Coca Cola caused cancer there would a really, really high rate of cancer in a lot of places in the world.

There is a really high rate of cancer in many countries. I the USA around 1 in 3 people get cancer.So out of the current population of the USA, over 100 million will get cancer. And Americans love Coke.

[Ulysses G.]

Coke is extremely bad for health, so why anyone drinks it I've no idea.

Probably because it tastes good.

Edited March 9, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[chuckd]

I've been drinking Coca Cola over 70 years and have not developed cancer yet. What a waste of time and money this exercise will be.

And some people smoke and don't get cancer. That doesn't mean that cigarettes don't cause cancer. Maybe you are just lucky or maybe you have cancer but you aren't yet aware of it. Coke is extremely bad for health, so why anyone drinks it I've no idea.

I drink it cause it tastes gooder than anything else.

And I smoked for 30 years and didn't get cancer from that either. I did quit smoking 20 years ago but still guzzle a coke from time to time.

PS: I don't have ulcers either but I have been accused of being a carrier.

[chuckd]

There is a really high rate of cancer in many countries. I the USA around 1 in 3 people get cancer.So out of the current population of the USA, over 100 million will get cancer. And Americans love Coke.

I sort of doubted your figures that 1 in 3 US citizens get cancer so I did a little googling.

According to WebMD, the cancer rate for the US is the 7th highest in the world with 300.2 cancer's reported per 100,000 citizens.

The US population in 2011 was reported to be 311,800,000.

A cancer rate of 300.2 per 100,000 would mean that 936,023 persons are prone to get cancer out of the entire US population...not 100 million as you state.

I hardly see Coca Cola as a threat to the world as we know it.

http://www.webmd.com...te-in-the-world

http://www.guardian....s-uk-rate-drops

http://geography.abo...spopulation.htm

[flying]

Lets face it they do not know what causes cancer.......They never did

Many cause of cancer are known. Ask any cancer doctor and he'll be able to tell you. Or just Google it. Most causes have been known for decades. Mostly it's lifestyle related. Also people working in certain industries are more prone to cancer.

No not really............All they have is studies with *possible* contributors.

They look at Cancer #3 for instance & they list known habits of the deceased or the patient getting treatment.

When they have what they consider to be a big enough database they then can claim for instance,

since 90% of those on the list ate peanuts....Peanuts may cause Cancer #3

After all if they knew 100% what caused cancer they then would have a cure.....

Your claim that certain people in certain jobs are *prone* is a good example of all they know.

But at the end of the day.........They do not know...They never did....all they have is hypothesis & lists of possible contributors.

There will probably come a day when the future generations look back on our supposedly cutting edge medical procedures

& shudder much as we do when we read about doctors of old bleeding patients.....

They will look back on Chemo/radiation and likely call us barbarians.

Edited March 9, 2012 by flying

[Carib]

I would worry more about the enormous amount of sugar, it isn't a real healthy drink now is it especially since some don't drink anything else.

[nong38]

They tried it before I seem to recall in the UK over 20 years ago and were forced to back track, probably a good publicity stunt, like this one!

[nong38]

Is the recipe really "top-secret"? Surely some scientists can analyze and reverse engineer the liquid to discover the ingredients.

Area 51 its apparently selling well in other galaxies too!

[surayu]

Just drink Pepsi, problem solved!

[chuckd]

Just drink Pepsi, problem solved!

Sacrilege, I say!

[OzMick]

Why is it more expensive than petrol? Duty free, more expensive than beer.

Probably to pay for the millions of dollars for BS advertising.

[billd766]

Why is it more expensive than petrol? Duty free, more expensive than beer.

Probably to pay for the millions of dollars for BS advertising.

Up in the central region where I live petrol is around 40 baht per litre and in 7/11 a 1.25 litre bottle of Coca Cola is 26 baht making Coke a little more than half the price of petrol..

A 70cl bottle of Archa beer is about 33 baht so the equivalent price would be about 51 baht for 1.25 litres of beer.

I don't drink it that often but when I do a nice cold, ice cold Coke from the fridge tastes great.

Edited March 10, 2012 by billd766

[chuckd]

Why is it more expensive than petrol? Duty free, more expensive than beer.

Probably to pay for the millions of dollars for BS advertising.

To answer your question with a question...

Why does black ink for a printer cartridge cost over $2,700 per gallon and scorpion venom cost $38,858,507.46 per gallon?

I have personally never seen an advertisement for scorpion venom, but then I don't live in Australia.

http://www.cockeyed....lon/liquid.html

[surayu]

ChuckD, if a scorpion used ink instead of venom, would you get a free tattoo everytime he sting you?

[lovetotravel]

Neither do I. But since I do eat and drink water and breathe air, I am probably a walking carcinogenic time-bomb.

Especially if you're in Chiang Mai right now!

I've been drinking Coca Cola over 70 years and have not developed cancer yet. What a waste of time and money this exercise will be.

And some people smoke and don't get cancer. That doesn't mean that cigarettes don't cause cancer. Maybe you are just lucky or maybe you have cancer but you aren't yet aware of it. Coke is extremely bad for health, so why anyone drinks it I've no idea.

It's great with rum!!!

[koto]

I've been drinking Coca Cola over 70 years and have not developed cancer yet. What a waste of time and money this exercise will be.

And some people smoke and don't get cancer. That doesn't mean that cigarettes don't cause cancer. Maybe you are just lucky or maybe you have cancer but you aren't yet aware of it. Coke is extremely bad for health, so why anyone drinks it I've no idea.

"So true" Amongst many other things, a friend of mine was getting, migraines for years, doctor told her to stop Coke, problem solved, "extremely" bad for children, cant understand other then all the false advertising, why people put their body's through this stuff, known facts, all sodas are not good for you, especially Coke and Pepsi, It's like the Junk-food places, great commercials, cheap food, mostly sick and over weight people, patronize these places for all or, most of their meals.

Ones diet, outlook, exercise and common sense is the path to a healthy, happy, longer life.