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What Coke Contains (2013)

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Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#131

Post by sambeau »

themodelplumber wrote: post #23
d0mdo0ss wrote: post #11

> coca-leaf which comes from South America and is processed in a unique US government authorized factory in New Jersey to remove its addictive stimulant cocaine According to Wikipedia "The Stepan Company is the only manufacturing plant authorized by the Federal Government to import and process the coca plant, which it obtains mainly from Peru and, to a lesser extent, Bolivia. Besides producing the coca flavoring agen…

Medicinal use clarification--an official from Mallinckrodt who "asked not to be named" had this to say: "We purchase a crude extract and purify it further into one chemical form, cocaine hydrochloride U.S.P." http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/01/business/how-coca-cola-obt... I looked that up because I don't work in health care: "Cocaine Hydrochloride is used topically to produce local anesthesia of accessible mucous mem…

Cocaine is a local anaesthetic that also restricts blood flow in capillaries hence its very useful in nasal surgery.

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#132

Post by nitrogen »

GFischer wrote: post #83
srean wrote: post #27

The article waxes so eloquently about this beloved product that I would have mistaken it for a paid PR piece. The article is great read nonetheless. For those who are also interested in the other darker, grimier side of the same coin, might want to check out its use of mercenaries for union busting in South America(by murder of course. In the hands of the right spinners that would be 'terrorism'), similar stuff happe…

The union-busting incident, while dark, seems to be an isolated incident. If you saw the kinds of gangsters that become union leaders in South America these days, you'd at least consider using mercenaries. The local Coca Cola union head here in Uruguay is not a man to be trifled with (Richard Read), he has gotten them incredible benefits (it pays better than programming over here :P ). And the guys in Argentina are l…

Edit: a side effect of such union power is that Uruguay has the most expensive Coca-Cola in the world, a 2 liter bottle costs 3.5 dollars after taxes (so almost twice what it costs in the U.S.)

Does that reduce consumption to the point that there are noticeable population-wide health benefits?

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#133

Post by azinman2 »

brusch wrote: post #128
Someone1234 wrote: post #29

I wish Coca Cola would make a acid free version of coke. The Phosphoric Acid adds a slight tang to the drink, but in exchange absolutely destroys your teeth over years of consumption. For regular drinkers like myself I'd happily pay a small premium to buy the "acid free" version of the drink. The sugar still does damage but with both the acid AND sugar it is like a double whammy of "badness" (acid which destroys your…

I have a friend with pretty big health problems (gout and other problems). I don't know if it is because of gout or any other disease, but he says he shouldn't drink acidic drinks. He cut Coca Cola and is drinking now Red Bull Cola. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_Cola I don't like Red Bull Cola and think it is a pretty poor substitute - but he enjoys it.

What's wrong with water?

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#134

Post by InclinedPlane »

This is good, although I think it reaches just a little too far when it says that the number of nations that could produce a can of coke is zero. If the US so desired it could grow coca leaves, and kola nuts, and use locally produced aluminum, etc.

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#135

Post by DanBC »

zafka wrote: post #92
scintill76 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Rhetorical questions) What does limestone look like? Where can I find it, and what do I need to know about working with it? How hot does the fire have to be, and what do I need to know to build a fire that hot? Maybe I'm just dumb on some of these points, but these are my personal followup questions that indicate that, even knowing these basics, I couldn't immediately make concrete without "civilization". Even the g…

Wikipedia is your friend, but the easiest place to get calcium carbonate is from shells. Most parts of the world have earthenware clay from which vessels can be made.

Some walls in Australia still contain traces of seashells.

Early settlers used the piles of shells left by Aborigines to make mortar.

http://blogs.hht.net.au/cook/oyster-shells/

http://mileslewis.net/australian-building/pdf/07-cement-conc...

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#136

Post by exacube »

How can 0 people know what's in Coke while still getitng it FDA approved? Surely this can't be true.. How does the company know how to make a can of coke if they don't know how it's put together?

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#137

Post by DanBC »

exacube wrote: post #136

How can 0 people know what's in Coke while still getitng it FDA approved? Surely this can't be true.. How does the company know how to make a can of coke if they don't know how it's put together?

There are no people who know all the steps - from mining minerals and refining and making the aluminium for the can; through engineering the can; to growing and harvesting and processing the botanicals; etc.

Obviously they know the ingredients.

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#138

Post by div »

exacube wrote: post #136

How can 0 people know what's in Coke while still getitng it FDA approved? Surely this can't be true.. How does the company know how to make a can of coke if they don't know how it's put together?

The article doesn't claim 0 people know what's in Coke. It claims 0 people know how to make a can of Coke, from start to finish, i.e. from mining your own raw materials to make aluminium to extracting the cocaine from the coca leaves to a finished can that can be put on a store shelve.

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#139

Post by Istof »

ShaneOG wrote: post #64
Istof wrote: post #61

"[...] and the edges of the can are folded over it and welded shut." I never thought there was any weld in a soda can... (and I still don't think there is any)

It's true. There are some more in-depth details (with graphics and PDFs) here: http://www.canmakers.co.uk/education

It doesn't talk about welding....

"13.An interlocking seam is formed at high speed. Up to 2000 cans go through the process each minute."

http://www.canmakers.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011...

Also tried a site-wide search: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Awww.canmakers.co.uk+w...

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#140

Post by wycx »

lpgauth wrote: post #33
Someone1234 wrote: post #29

I wish Coca Cola would make a acid free version of coke. The Phosphoric Acid adds a slight tang to the drink, but in exchange absolutely destroys your teeth over years of consumption. For regular drinkers like myself I'd happily pay a small premium to buy the "acid free" version of the drink. The sugar still does damage but with both the acid AND sugar it is like a double whammy of "badness" (acid which destroys your…

I'm no chemist, but couldn't you just add a base to neutralize the phosphoric acid (e.g. calcium carbonate)?

You would make a phosphate salt. Depending on its solubility, it may precipitate. Depending on the log K, your cola might no longer be acidic at all, and as others have suggested, not taste as nice, making the addition of both the phosphoric acid and calcium carbonate pointless.

2 H3PO4 + 3 CaCO3 -> Ca3(PO4)2 + 3 H2O + 3 CO2

The calcium phosphate phase listed above may not be the stable phase in cola solution at NTP, but is the simplest example.

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