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What Coke Contains (2013)

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Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#141
Not that I want to waste any time on a HPLC-MS machine on this, but I was distinctly under the impression Coca-Cola 7X does not actually contain kola nut?

I've had Red Bull Cola, and actually found it quite different, but delicious. No accounting for taste, though.

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#142
post #31

You can make your own almost-Coke... OpenCola, the open-source cola. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCola_(drink)

our local indie cinema produces its own cola using this recipe, it's very good, so good that they actually produce and sell it in bulk. http://www.cube-cola.org/

Cool :)

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#143

> 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…

Does this mean I cannot open my own company to process coca-leafs? Can I sue the government due to monopoly practices? Why this factory is any better than any citizen wanting to open coca-leaf processing plant??

Bureaucracy, not conspiracy. I'm sure it's theoretically be possible to bid for the procurement contract and apply for the license and whatnot, but this would take years, cost lots of money, and leave you with an incredibly heavily regulated product and thus (presumably) not much of a profit margin.

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#144
post #3

The same type of story as the classic "I, pencil," published in 1958: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%2C_Pencil

A story sometimes referenced by Milton Friedman: http://youtu.be/4ERbC7JyCfU?t=19s

I'd love to see the same structure analyzed again by a marxist or something instead of Friedman. Instead of focusing on the pencil getting made by this almost unfathomably complex concert of global labor, you can focus on the few bourgeoise actually profiting from it and how all of these disparate groups of laborers are almost invisibly caught in/exploited by the web. Not that I think either is the whole story, it would just be fun to listen to in the same way that this was.

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#145

> 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…

It would be interesting to see how the cocaine supply line works. I imagine they'd need armored vehicles and a lot of security for the entire trip from NJ to MO.

In reality it's likely a comparatively small supply. Flying it would also present less issues.

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#146

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…

Impossible. Plain old carbonated water is acidic.

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Nope, it just means we have a large amount of substitute drinks (and Cola-flavored generic drinks) from lots of local brands.

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#148
post #73
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is, the acid is a vital component of the flavor. Try mixing water with sugar to see what I mean...it is sweet, but it's not particualy good. To make it taste better, the best approach is to add some acid (lemon juice naturally gets you lemonade, but other edible acids would get you a similar effect.) Even fruit juice follows this basic flavor formula (most fruits are acidic, though watermelons are basic)

Watermelon is definitely not basic , it's just less acidic than most other fruits. But it's more acidic than distilled water (<7.0), therefore it's not basic.

Yup, looks like you're right! I stand corrected.

Re: What Coke Contains (2013)

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

A 2 liter doesn't cost $1.25 here, a 20 ounce does. I can't recall what a 2 liter costs because I don't buy them but over $2 for sure.
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