How Coca Cola (Actually) Keeps Its Secret Recipe Secret
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2022
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Video written by Adam Chase
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These guys really found out the secret recipe to one of the most closely-guarded, longest-kept secrets in the world, and then offered to sell it to the biggest rival, worth billions, for a grand total of 75k
pepsi has probably already reverse engineered the formula so there no point in buying something they already know
It wouldn't be worth much to Pepsi... They already have an established pipeline for making their own very similar drink that has developed an equal "cult following" to coke. The coke recipe wouldn't help Pepsi
@@sirajb6363 I know, but still, you'd think these guys would take the price a bit higher
And Pepsi promptly refused, and let Coke know about it.
Would those same Business Ethics be followed today?
Somehow, I doubt it.
@@TimeSurfer206 They probably would - there would be no real benefit to Pepsi in paying for the secrets, and they would be participating in potentially criminal conduct, so the obvious thing to do is report it and let Coca Cola know.
The final implication of this video has been my theory for a while- the secret recipe is a marketing gimmick. It keeps an air of mystery about the brand, and gets people talking about it. Pretending like the formula is something mythical and ultra top secret serves no purpose other than to keep a small section of people's brains reserved for Coca-Cola speculation, and it's advertising they don't need to spend a cent on.
Well your idea is supported by the tv adverts they used to boast about how secret the recipe is. People want what they cant have and the idea of competition not being able to have the recipe either makes them want it even more
Yeah both coca cola and Pepsi doesnt taste like anything
@@stellviahohenheim They have a specific taste. But anyone can tell pepsi is sweeter
Nah. The taste of coca cola really feels like there's some weird ingredients mixed in.
@@kato_dsrdr It tastes like they left a handful of sweaty pennies in there overnight
The real secret Coca Cola recipe was the friends we made along the way :)
So THAT'S why I haven't seen my old friends in such a long time! They were used to make Coca Cola!
The cheese is old and moldy.
Soilent green is coca cola!
Beat me to it
or cocaine
Fun fact: to get the “Kosher” label, they had to told the secret (the list of ingredients) to a rabbi. When the rabbi died, and they had to do it again, they had a better idea.
They created a list with all the ingredients, mixed up with other, irrelevant ingredients which were not actually used. The new rabbi certified that the bigger list is kosher, so everything in it (including the actual ingredients) are kosher too. And they didn’t have to tell the secret any more.
I imagine the rabbi was more impressed with their craftiness than anything else. I know I am!
I guess they do the same thing to ensure it is Halal in Islamic countries.
@@mayhair pretty much every authority agrees if something is kosher and not alcoholic it's also halal, so they might just use that.
@@keiyakins Yes, however I'd imagine given just how antisemitic most of the Islamic theocracies are, I feel like "our drink has been certified as kosher/pareve by [insert rabbinical organization], so it also counts as halal and thus follows your food laws" wouldn't work. But for selling to Muslims in other countries, it would.
That was good for the american coke but the israeli rabbi got the formula as is
I believe there might be a better kept drink recipe: Chartreuse. I think the recipe is only known by two senior monks and it has been that way for several centuries. It's also really complicated with over 300 plants being used
And that drink has it's mountain right next to me! Hello, mountain of Grenoble.
It tastes good, too. Too good.
A father
And it's delicious
That's the same for a lot of monestries.
WP claims it's exactly 130 plants. Some of the major ingredients are known, though.
"How Do the Manufacturers Make the Thing When They Don't Know What Thing They're Making" pretty much describes the entire field of software engineering.
Pretty much describes the entire field of engineering*
The Manhattan Project
@@where_is_sauce *pretty much describes every commissioned job
"Here, add some X to this mush that you aren't told what's in it." It's not that difficult to keep people in the dark.
@@User31129 youre not understanding the joke
The reason they went from 2 people to "a small group" is that they ramped up production since then and the urine from 2 people isn't enough anymore.
Ingredients: natural flavors
LMAOO IM ROLLING THIS COMMENT NEEDS TO BE BUMPED UP
You are taking the piss.
Upvoted!
Yesss
Obviously posted by either a Michael Jackson or Joan Crawford fan. Two other drinkers of the competition’s beverage. Coke rules.
-Matt dad
We made the Pemberton 1886 recipe a few years ago on our channel - It was pretty good.
The one with cocaine 😳
YOU WHAT
Seems like a waste of cocaine but ok
I didn't expect this crossover hahaha
Hi Glen!
Sam is just an imaginary persona invented by Storyblocks, to sell more stock footage
Obi-Wan Kenobi: "How many know the recipe?"
Yoda: "Always two there are. No more, no less."
Yoda was talking to Mace Windu
@@__skillz my mistake
This is the comment I was looking for
I would pay about $3.50 for a bottle of Original 1800s Coke.
Dammit Loch Ness Monster, get off my lawn! I ain't givin' you no tree-fiddy!
I thought coca cola at that times used cocaine as ingredients?
@@Oneiroi0 that's in the new formula ingredient #9 🤫
@@Oneiroi0 yep
@@Oneiroi0 It used coca leaf extract (and still does). It did contain some cocaine, but probably not very much. Since 1903, the extract they use has contained no cocaine.
One estimate is that the original formula contained 9 mg of cocaine per glass, which is probably not enough for most people to notice (similar to the caffeine content). Granted, if you drank like ten glasses, then that would be a very different situation.
My late brother in law was a chemist who specialised it water treatment and purification . He was involved in the setting up of a few Coca Cola plants in Africa and the Far East. He told me that to keep the taste uniform throughout the world, the various factories would take local water and effectively strip out all the salts and chemicals that all water contains and then use that purified water to make Coke by adding the required ingredients.
You mean they used distilled water.
But why TF does bottled coca-cola tastes different from canned coca-cola, also the mcdonalds and 7-11 coca-cola also differ in aftertastes, not to mention the coke zeroes in those companies too
@@pishposh7595 No it wasn’t distilled, it was filtered through microfine filters. Distillation requires boiling and condensation.
@@kyleterry5190 Plastic bottles and aluminum cans alters the flavor. Restaurants tend to just mix water and flavors, sort of like a big SodaStream.
@@kyleterry5190 Different containers leave slightly different tastes, while franchise sods fountains usually do so by mixing the drink syrup with soda water or just water and carbonate it, with each brand having their own techniques and regulations for their fountains (like how mcdonald's filtration results in a different and 'stronger' product when dispensed)
The recipe is literally the best marketing Coca-Cola could have asked for. LOL Pepsi Terrorism.
Don't fuck with Pepsi, they had the world's sixth largest navy
(ok they didn't, but that's the legend)
@@romulusnr lol the crate wars
So I worked in kfc... the "11 secret herbs and spices" are literally labelled on the shiny silver original recipe seasoning packet they come in. This IS in Australia though which has better consumer laws than America where keeping the contents of food you are selling a secret generally is illegal.
NAME THEM PLEASE
@@venkatakhileshyanamadala1700
- salt
- white pepper
- thyme
- basil
- oregano
- celery salt
- garlic salt
- black pepper
- dry mustard
- paprika
- ground ginger
(mixed with all-purpose flour.)
yeah but you also need to know how much of the ingredients to mix together
@@PosterityIslesNews By law in Australia, the list of ingredients on the packet has to be ordered from most to least, so you can narrow down the quantities somewhat because as you work through the list, each ingredient will be an equal or smaller amount than the one before.
Part of KFC's 'secret' is the cooking technique as well, is it not?
Can you please make a video on the story of Vulcan, West Virginia, and how the Soviets nearly built a bridge there? It's a pretty interesting story, and it starts in 1977 with the village of Vulcan wanting a bridge that crosses the Tug fork (the nearest bridge is nearly 2 miles away), so they could access a road on the other side. When both the state and federal governments refused their request, their mayor asked the Soviet embassy and East German officials for help. The Soviets even sent a journalist there, and an hour later the West Virginian government hastily promised and built a bridge so the Soviets wouldn't build one. It's a pretty interesting story, and it was major news at the time.
There is a great episode of Well there is your problem about the Vulcan Bridge
@@MrJimheeren WTYP is a wonderful podcast about engineering disasters - which itself is a disaster
West Virginia resident here, plz do it.
That’s some smart thinking outside the box by the mayor!
@@LukusCannon yay Liam
One of my friends was a lab technician for Pepsi and one of his jobs was to go to the local supermarket and buy one of each of the competitors drinks once a month and then analyze them all on a spectrum analyzer and compare the current formula with the previous results. So yes they know exactly what is in it!
That's what I always thought the did, I can't belive I got that right
Obviously that happens. I find the video misses the point by not mentioning that chromotagraphs and spectrometers exist. Coca cola sells because of the brand, not because it is too difficult for other companies to replicate the product.
Lab tests can identify the elements in the mix, but not their source or method of processing, and so are of limited value in reproducing flavor exactly.
@@ke6gwf The only ingredients not identified on the label are flavouring compounds or extracts. The chemical components of these can be analysed, and a manufacturing process to replicate the profile back-engineered.
It doesn't even matter if it's not replicated exactly - we've seen it's about brand, not exact flavour (eg: people preferring or not minding New Coke, but it flopping hard in the market). Actually, even Coca Cola doesn't replicate its classic product precisely (corn syrup vs. cane sugar in different countries is one notable example, or stevia in Japan).
Also, the Kosher story doesn't make sense. The entire sourcing and manufacturing process needs to be inspected for the certification, not just approval of an ingredient list.
It's a bogus story and a false marketing gimmick idea being spread around here.
@@danielguy3581 1. Any and all of the listed ingredients can have their flavor changed drastically through selection and processing, often changing their chemical composition, making identifying the unlisted ingredients impossible.
For instance, sugar can be caramelized to varying degrees, the HFCS can be processed to a different degree to get a different flavor profile, the phosphoric acid can be reacted at full strength with other ingredients prior to mixing it in, creating new compounds and flavors, etc etc.
You seem to be looking at the ingredients list and assuming that each one is a standard commodity that is dumped directly into the mixing vat, when all it means is that some item that still falls under the broad definition of that particular name is entering the factory, but what they do with it before they add it to the vat can make radical changes.
Just look at all the varieties and flavors of sugar that you can buy at the grocery store. You can't assume that they are only using standard sugar with no processing or modification.
And yes, HFCS comes in multiple varieties as well, and can have its flavor and chemical composition changed by heating or other processes.
So, when some unidentified chemical is identified in the lab, is it from one of the unnamed additives, or is it from some of the named ingredients being processed in a specific way?
2. Different Rabbis apply different standards for Kosher designations, and so we don't know what process is required for them, especially since it is a highly processed product.
Since it has no ingredients that would be questionable for Kosher, the bug content would be the main issue, and if they filter it through a fine filter at the end of the process, that could satisfy the bug question, because no bug parts could get through.
Alternately, the Rabbi could charge them to buy a case of Coke per month to perform Bug Content inspection on personally! Lol
Coca Cola keeps their secret formula in the second page of Bing Search results
Great video as always! Coca Cola has been around a long time. It's crazy to me that they actually had "soldiers" who worked for them in World War 2. While they weren't technically soldiers, just employees for the company, they went abroad and were stationed where everyone else was and two even died. Their sole purpose was to supply the allied forces with as much Coca Cola as possible. Even the temporary factories they were allowed to build to help supply soldiers during the war helped them grow immensely as many of them were converted to permanent facilities after the war and allowed them, essentially, to gain global expansion paid for, in part, by the US government.
I actually made a video on this topic on my channel a while back. Super interesting time period for the company...
This deserves a one whole as interesting video about it.
good fun fact! I'm definitely going to watch your video now
Did you talk about fanta too
@@InvagPrune I was going to bring up Fanta.
If the recipe is not patented, could those guys have patented it, then sue Coca-Cola for infringing on their patent?
yes but wouldn't the government find out you stole it?
Patents have to be publicly listed for several months before being enacted. I suspect that Coca-cola and their excellent lawyers might just intercede. Also I guess the "you are not a permissable user of coca leaves, how did you even make this?" aspect would also show up
@@rhas356 Ah didn't know that patents have to be listed for a while before being enacted. Makes sense.
Wasn't super serious but you got good points :D
It's my understanding that you aren't exactly supposed to yoink something someone has already been doing and patent it to sue them. It still counts as "prior art" which means the patent would either not be granted by the patent office, or ruled invalid in court later.
It will come under trade secret category rather then patent category
@@paulverse4587
"only two permitted people know the recipe at any given time"
Me who can just read the ingredients label on the side: "UNLIMITED POWER"
You really think that’s the full formula? 🥴 I doubt that very much.
I heard you can download the secret recipe by replying back to a don't reply email...
You actually need to show proof, via email, that you ripped the tag off of a mattresses.
@@zach11241 🤣🤣
The fact that those employees decided to sell the recipe to Pepsi and not leak it to the public is some next-level stupidity. That could’ve been the most insane recipe leak of all time
The biggest doubt I have about the secret recipe is how the FDA authorices coca-cola to sell the product.
Probably a comnination of tests being done to the finished product instead of the ingredients and being able to label some ingredients as basically "mix of stuff". Don't really know how the FDA works but Coca-Cola being Coca-Cola surely is more than capable to get that stuff sorted out
Well, technically, they don't. No recipe for food or drink needs FDA approval if it only contains ingredients generally considered safe to consume. FDA regulates things like how clean their plants are, and whether the water source is uncontaminated, not the formula itself. Coke *do* have to disclose the raw ingredients on the side of the bottle, but they don't have to disclose the exact ratios or processing techniques.
According to the Fair packaging and labeling act: the list of ingredients must not be used to force a company to disclose “trade secrets"
- (FPLA, section 1454(c)(3)).
So the FDA can't really force a company to do it unless it has some common allergens(which can be ruled out by lab tests)
"Natural and Artificial Flavorings" covers a LOT of Bases.
The secret ingredients for the flavouring aren’t restricted, and are only present in very small quantities anyway, so the FDA don’t have any reason to be involved.
You are the first sponsored RUclipsr I've found that actually used the words "I'm being paid to sell", in reference to the product. Thank you!
Sam: No one knows the Coca-Cola recipe
Me: Looks at the Ingredients on the back of the bottle
2000 iq play
His name was Asa Candler, not Asa Cander. FUN FACT: Asa Candler built a racetrack south of Atlanta that he eventually donated to the city. It's now Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.
bro who tf cares
@@Chocolatnave123 considering we are on a trivia channel, probably a surprising amount of people
It has plum. Sometimes in the factory process a machine starts failing and a few bottles come out before it's fixed, I have seen the distinctive remnants of plum pulp in two different ocassions over the years.
a fizzy kompot . thanks !
we also know it's a citrus drink
2:35 This explains why Pepsi once became the 6th largest military in 1989.
huh? are you talking about the navy deal with the soviets? if so that never happened, and it wouldn't have even been in the top 20.
3:54 - tell me more about this Caffine. Is it related to caffeine?
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I think she is the best broker I ever seen
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I used to run the QA department at a food plant in the US. Based upon nutritional labeling requirements alone, ever since the passage of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (1990), it would be absolutely essential that the people working on the Nutrition Facts panel and related ingredient listing do have access to the actual raw formula. This act allows for a certain amount of rounding, but the actual ingredient listings for all of the components poured into the batch would need to be known by that team, so they can properly place the ingredients in their proper order based upon amounts used.
The notion that only two people in the company ever know the whole formula is a joke, meant to add an air of mystery, but doesn't in any way make sense for a modern multinational corporation.
So do u know it?
@@xlown8561 no, since I didn't work for Coke. I do/did happen to know the recipes for many other products though, as I was one of the official keepers of secrets. Even for us, there were a few private label products we made where we added a seasoning blend; sometimes we had the full formula, other times we got an ingredient deck and % of each ingredient, but the general comment "spices and spice extracts" instead of the actual spices (sadly NLEA does allow that, which must suck for those with less common food allergies).
The inside joke about the Coke formula... I'm sure every single competitor has sent a sample of it to an analytical lab as an anonymously labeled sample. We had to send samples of our own products to get the base values used to calculate the numbers on the Nutrition Facts panel, but you can get all sorts of tests done there - even mass spectrometry to get a good idea of what those odd additives actually are. We regularly dropped samples off at the lab at the Land O'Lakes corporate HQ, although they weren't a major supplier or purchaser of our products. Their lab was really top notch as they had a pilot plant on site, and lots of food scientists, etc to consult with. If one really wanted to know what was in Coke, it's not too hard to find out if you have a few grand to toss at a lab like that (to run the full battery of tests). :P
@@chouseification pretty much spot on. I run a QC lab for a company that provides flavors for TCCC. The real secret isn’t the flavors themselves but more so the final process and ratio of sweeteners. To your last point, GC-MS is very powerful and you can certainly, with enough work, reverse engineer nearly any product. The difficulty in that is that many companies will add trace amounts of random ingredients that would never have an impact on final consumer taste/odor but could easily be detected with instruments. This was if let’s say Pepsi were to reverse engineer a Coke they bought at a store, Coke could then show they also added these trace ingredients that would never otherwise be added if it weren’t reverse engineered. Think of adding a couple parts per billion of a very distinct chemical like menthol.
@@jvseibel absolutely; there are tons of legal implications in doing it, but as we know, it happens all the time. :P
video idea if you haven't already done it: how there were actually six mainland US civilian casualties in world war II
There is at least 1 non-coke employee who knows the entire recipe. The Orthadox Union certifies coke as being Kosher. This requires knowledge of the full recipe. So, there is at least one random Rabbi in NY (OU headquarters), working for the OU, who knows the recipe as well.
or maybe there are 500 rabbis that know 1 ingredient each
Rumour is that they throw in a bunch of other plausible kosher ingredients to the recipe, which doesn't affect the kosher licence, but means the OU don't know what actual recipe is.
@@a930913 not many but at least some. I also believe they don't have to list quantities for these review processes so even if they didn't it would be a long tedious process to make the same blend
In the World of Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta, they have a whole section dedicated to the "secret recipe", so yeah, it's a marketing gimmick.
3:55 You might need some more "caffeine". Also, it's the "Stepan" company.
I like to imagine that the "small group" that knows the secret recipe just drinks Pepsi because they know what is inside Coke haha
Lmaoo
The reason coke goes to such ostentatious lengths to protect their formula as building a vault is twofold: first, because the very idea of the secret formula is a marketing tactic, but second and perhaps more importantly it’s because it’s one of the things required to allow them to pursue leaks as illegal corporate espionage. If they didn’t take “reasonable measures” to protect their secret formula, then if someone stole it Coke wouldn’t necessarily have any ability to legally go after the thief. Problem is that “reasonable measures” isn’t statutorily defined, so it would be adjudicated at trial. By going over the top and having only one copy that’s in a vault and the whole “only two people know it” thing, they’re hedging their bets to make sure they could be said to have taken “reasonable measures” to secure the secrecy of the formula.
Hank hill claims nobody can tell the difference between coke and mega-lo brand cola
3:56 It contains carmel coloring AND caffine?
Fun fact: I have just received a Coca Cola advert at the beginning of the video 😂😂
Isn't coca-cola being the only company that's licensed to use coca extract kinda very monopolistic and anti-consumeristic, which is against the law?
It is but-
Why yes. Yes it is.
Against the law? Maybe technically, but practically every large company that is a monopoly or is borderline one is that way because of government laws
And who is planting and exporting it to them?
Well with patents and licensed it kinda with the law
I didn't realize coca cola still used coca leaves, just w the "cocaine" removed. This brings up a question - the drug war in Latin America involved (involves?) dropping defoliant on tons of small coca farms. How do they know if someone is farming coca leaves for coca cola versus the drug trade?
I imagine the legal ones would be registered and monitored in some official capacity.
It could be because they are selling on a global scale and not every country is as strict with patents as the USA. For example china could just copy the original and sell it as it's own and supply the biggest marketed in the world with it.
You could easily get a professional to break down the ingredients and make a company but it'd fail. Coca-cola the brand is worth far more than the sugar water in the cans, ppl will buy anything with coke on it.
but they'd only be able to sell it in china and if coke isn't already there (i'm betting it is) it wouldn't be an actual loss
@@minedgravy380 you could create a fake coca cola with the same taste but way cheaper. In many countries around the world coca cola is luxury, so there is a big marked for a the cheap fake. Just my first thought.
@@romulusnr I can't see how it could be a loss if you only sell to 1 billion people. And no you cannot only sell it in china. Africa and most of Asia are also potential markets without strong enforcement.
@@minedgravy380 I think it is not as easy to identify the coca cola ingredients. There is no patent on it, so someone would have tried it made a good coca cola replacement. Here in Germany there are a lot of colas but none of them taste exactly like the original.
I love seeing more of your personality in these videos. I hope Wendover takes a slice from here ;)
loved the Storyblocks add... because I love the stock footage you use c:
There was a court case in like the 1920s where the US government basically said "either your product contains cocaine, which is illegal, or your name is false advertising, which is illegal." To which Coca Cola pointed out that they do use coca, but they take the cocaine out first.
Originally it did actually contain cocaine.
I'm pretty sure that someone with a lab and tools to identify molecules can tell you all what is included in the syrup. Since it's a mass produced liquid, knowing what ingredients are leaves only finding the ratio of them to replicate it.
It's not like wine where everything in the process can affect the taste.
What about the label on can/bottle? It should say what is in the drink.
I thought about that too but it's not really obvious what the ingredients are just from looking at the molecules. One ingredient will have a hundred chemical compounds and many different ingredients also will share the same chemical compounds.
So if you're trying to get the ratio of chemical A and B right, there will be extremely many different answers, since you have so many ingredients to choose from. Getting the ratios right for a hundred chemicals will make the problem exponentially harder. I think this is called the multidimensional Knapsack problem (maybe, college has been a while) and it's NP-hard, which means you can't expect a computer to solve it in a reasonable amount of time.
Or something. Maybe I'm overcomplicating it and the chemistry is much simpler but it's not exactly trivial either.
The script itself, and the way the narrators reads it is enormously captivating!
This won't stop me from making coke though
Making coke
@Noot Noot 🅥 a father
Secrecy through obscurity doesn't work in the end. Coca-Cola's recipe "secret" is akin to an urban legend (albeit a "real" thing). The recipe itself has no marketable value, but it has immense marketing value.
Anyway, as a kid we considered a Coke to be a special treat, not a daily thing. Still do, actually.
Was this before or after Hitler's rise to power?
What I wanna know is how a product with secret ingredients can possibly be legal or FDA approved, I mean how can they sign off on a product if they aren’t even allowed to know what’s in it?
I asked myself that as well!! How does this work??
The ingredients are labelled on every can. The exact proportion and the mixing steps are the secret, not what the ingredients are.
@@showjack1109 in Germany often it only states "aroma" as one of the ingredients and the others are water and stuff. So the aroma part is the point
Despite their name, the FDA does not certify food and beverages. Coca-Cola only needs to put the ingredients and not the exact amount of them, and they can use vague names like natural or artificial flavoring to hide the actual ingredients. The FDA primarily establishes guidelines and monitors the industry to see if they are being followed, such as plant cleanliness, cross contamination, or whether the food is safe for human consumption.
I worked at a company that kept their technical secrets on… a computer. Ok, but it was a computer not connected to the network or internet, locked in a room with a separate alarm code. Think Mission Impossible, but instead of the retinal scan, floor pressure sensors, sound sensors, and heat sensors in the room, it just had a contact switch style alarm on the door. I’m guessing lots of corporations do that kind of stuff with their trade secrets.
Apparently the spice blend for Heinz Ketchup is made in a similar manner, all people know is the blend comes out of secretive room in the factory and that it gets added into the mix at a certain point.
but what is the recipe for bricks?
clay and fire
It is still valuable to keep the recipe secret as not every country universally respects intellectual property so while coke in the US might be safe from being duplicated that is not true in other countries. Also, keeping the recipe secret prevents would-be copy cats from making coke but at a low quality, and thus damaging the soda's reputation as a whole.
The ending conclusion was what everyone expected
Coming from the latest episode of connect 4 straight to this🤩 keep up the amazing content guys
To be fair, while in theory a recipe could be patented, it almost never happens. This is because of the 4 x patentability requirements:
*Is the invention patentable subject matter?
*Is the invention useful?
*Is the invention novel?
*Is the invention non-obvious?
ALL of the above criteria have to be achieved for a patent to be possible.
Recipes are rarely able to achieve "non-obvious" or "novel" categories, thus recipes don't get patents.
Yup, lots of things people want to patent just aren't allowed. Though to be fair, the US Patent office also lets a lot of patents through that are hot garbage, which then get used by patent trolls and other bad actors. There's just too many patent applications to go through in detail, particularly if the patent is something really technical (not a drink recipe). A lot of crap bypasses those rules. Coke is so high-profile though, they wouldn't go unnoticed. They could patent a specific novel industrial process, but not a recipe. That said, Coke still doesn't want to patent. Trying to defend the patent in court and go after violators is a lot harder and more expensive than just keeping it more secret and safe than the One Ring.
Thanks for the entertainment. I think it is a myth. Coke tastes so different in each country that there is no standard and therefore no secret recipe. Even 50 kilometres across the Thai/Malaysian border the coke flavour is markedly different. Pepsi is far more consistent from country to country.
They're a franchise. Coca Cola tastes different everywhere because it's made by different companies. They receive the same base ingredients, but they do adjust the recipe to local preferences. So they use different water, different sweeteners, different amounts of bubbles, etc.
Even in companies too, bottled and canned coca-cola tastes different from mcdonalds and 7-eleven coke
Purported secret recipes
Pemberton recipe
Coca-Cola inventor John Pemberton is said to have written this recipe in his diary shortly before his death in 1888.[28][29] The recipe does not specify when or how the ingredients are mixed, nor the flavoring oil quantity units of measure (though it implies that the "Merchandise 7X" was mixed first). This was common in recipes at the time, as it was assumed that preparers knew the method.
Ingredients:
1 oz (28 g) caffeine citrate
3 oz (85 g) citric acid
1 US fl oz (30 ml) vanilla extract
1 US qt (946 ml) lime juice
2.5 oz (71 g) "flavoring" (i.e., "Merchandise 7X")
30 lb (14 kg) sugar
4 US fl oz (118.3 ml) fluid extract of coca leaves (flavor essence of the coca leaf)
2.5 US gal (9.5 l; 2.1 imp gal) water
caramel sufficient to give color
"Mix caffeine acid and lime juice in 1 quart boiling water add vanilla and flavoring when cool."
Flavoring (Merchandise 7X):
1 qrt alcohol
80 oil orange
40 oil cinnamon
120 oil lemon
20 oil coriander
40 oil nutmeg
40 oil neroli
"Let stand 24 hours."
Merory recipe
Recipe is from Food Flavorings: Composition, Manufacture and Use. Makes one 1 US gallon (3.8 l; 0.83 imp gal) of syrup. Yield (used to flavor carbonated water at 1 US fl oz (30 ml) per bottle): 128 bottles, 6.5 US fl oz (190 ml).[30]
Mix 5 lb (2.3 kg) of sugar with just enough water to dissolve the sugar fully. (High-fructose corn syrup may be substituted for half the sugar.)
Add 1+1⁄4 oz (35 g) of caramel, 1⁄10 oz (3 g) caffeine, and 2⁄5 oz (11 g) phosphoric acid.
Extract the cocaine from 5⁄8 drachm (1.1 g) of coca leaf (Truxillo growth of coca preferred) with toluol; discard the cocaine extract.
Soak the coca leaves and kola nuts (both finely powdered); 1⁄5 drachm (0.35 g) in 3⁄4 oz (21 g) of 20% alcohol.
California white wine fortified to 20% strength was used as the soaking solution circa 1909, but Coca-Cola may have switched to a simple water/alcohol mixture.
After soaking, discard the coca and kola and add the liquid to the syrup.
Add 1 oz (28 g) lime juice (a former ingredient, evidently, that Coca-Cola now denies) or a substitute such as a water solution of citric acid and sodium citrate at lime-juice strength.
Mix together
1⁄4 drachm (0.44 g) orange oil,
1⁄10 drachm (0.18 g) cassia (Chinese cinnamon) oil,
1⁄2 drachm (0.89 g) lemon oil, traces of
2⁄5 drachm (0.71 g) nutmeg oil, and, if desired, traces of
coriander,
neroli, and
lavender oils.
Add 1⁄10 oz (2.8 g) water to the oil mixture and let stand for twenty-four hours at about 60 °F (16 °C). A cloudy layer will separate.
Take off the clear part of the liquid only and add to the syrup.
Add 7⁄10 oz (20 g) glycerine (from vegetable source, not hog fat, so the drink can be sold to Jews and Muslims who observe their respective religion's dietary restrictions) and 3⁄10 drachm (0.53 g) of vanilla extract.
Add water (treated with chlorine) to make a gallon of syrup.
Beal recipe
In 2011, Ira Glass announced on his Public Radio International show, This American Life, that show staffers had found a recipe in "Everett Beal's Recipe Book", reproduced in the February 28, 1979, issue of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that they believed was either Pemberton's original formula for Coca-Cola, or a version that he made either before or after the product was first sold in 1886. The formula is very similar to the one found in Pemberton's diary.[31][32][33] Coca-Cola archivist Phil Mooney acknowledged that the recipe "could be a precursor" to the formula used in the original 1886 product, but emphasized that the original formula is not the same as the one used in the current product.[34]
Fluid extract of Coca: 3 drams USP
Citric acid: 3 oz
Caffeine: 1 oz
Sugar: 30 lbs
Water: 2.5 gal
Lime juice: 2 pints (1 quart)
Vanilla: 1 oz
Caramel: 1.5 oz or more for color
The secret 7X flavor (use 2 oz of flavor to 5 gals syrup):
Alcohol: 8 oz
Orange oil: 20 drops
Cinnamon oil: 10 drops
Lemon oil: 30 drops
Coriander oil: 5 drops
Nutmeg oil: 10 drops
Neroli oil: 10 drops
is the recipe
I think the reason why they keep it a secret it is that not so people can sell it for more, but would sell it for way cheaper, like store brands, and they might not want to compete with them.
Was that "D*ck-in-a-Box" stock footage @ 00:20? 🤦🏻♂️
1:00 no that's reserved for the copyright office
I live just an hour away from the Coca Cola factory hq, and the tour is AMAZING
you have to see it, you get to try 500 different flavors of coke
Question do they export the coca leaf extract for manufacturing outside of the US? or do other countries have a substitute?
actually the funny thing about 'Im not going to tell you what this is and demand the right to sue anyone who sells it'
is exactly how software patents work, sort of... in a way.
Also I could have sworn this video came out years ago. Also, its june already LOL
People can be allergic to just about anything. I bet if you did a large enough population study of who was allergic to coke, and what other things they are allergic too....you could figure out the ingredients.
3:56 Welp, see you in the next HAI mistakes... twice
I’d like to see a video on the food plants catching fire, or at least get your thoughts on wether it’s normal or what exactly is going on!
I think it’d be half interesting! 😁
an employee once offered to steal and sell the recipe and give it to Pepsi. Pepsi contacted Coca cola and turned the person in for this.
This was in the video lol
Pepsi didn't even want the Coke formula because even if they made their own it would just lead to a race to the bottom in which both would see the bottom line shrink.
I loved that transition to the ad... ¨i am being paid to sell¨ lmfao
That "You tell me" part got me 🤣
You should have said “when Pepsi re-invests in its navy” , because after all…..if you havent heard about the soviet deal, they bartered Pepsi for scrap Soviet ships to get around cash deal laws at the time, and technically had one of the worlds largest navies.
I think that situation would happen when coca-cola stocks suddenly increases by 4 billion usd
Pepsi's "navy" was not "one of the worlds largest navies", it wasn't even in the top 30. Also that soviet deal never even went through, sorry to burst your bubble but that whole myth is just that, a myth.
Pepsi never received any ships. Even if they did it would have been a pretty small navy and they would have just gotten the money from scrapping the ships.
It’s well known that Coke no longer contains cocaine and does contain caffeine. But the caffeine was not added to replace the cocaine. It was added to replace the kola since caffeine could be added in greater concentration. 5x, to be precise, but they were later required by law to reduce that. (Both were used in an attempt to cure the creator of his morphine addiction but that endeavor failed). So Coca Cola contains no “coke” and no kola.
It no longer contains cocaine, but it contains coca leaves extract with no cocaine. Sam even pointed out that they are the only company to legally import it. The question is. Who plants and exports it??
The real secret recipe of Coke
•Headaches
•Heart palpitations
•Teeth erosion
•Diabetes
•Amputation
•Death
Ayyy, shout out Northfield, IL!
A single factory processes coca leaves and removes all the cocaine?
Huh. No wonder they're so productive.
To add onto the Pepsi story, Pepsi didn’t even open up the documents to see recipe. They didn’t want to have a chance to be held liable and sued by Coke, plus like Sam said, what are they gonna make? Coke flavored Pepsi???
Exactly. And it has paid off for them big time not trying to be Coke, but trying to make a cola flavoured beverage that worked well for everyone who thinks Coke is a bit too "syrupy". In almost of Europe, and especially Scandinavia, they've managed to kick Coca's products to the curb. I work at a venue where we aren't brand locked. We sell about 12 Pepsi Max for every Coke and Coke Zero combined. Most people I know rank them as follows: Pepsi Max, Coke, Pepsi, Coke Zero.
Plus, they do want to discourage corporate espionage against cola companies. Which raises the question - who keeps the Pepsi recipe secret?
The main thing about keeping it secret is the fact that they can sue whoever steals it and be sure to win. The punishment for stealing a company's secret is proportional to the effort the company invests in hiding it.
The best episode so far!
But, and hear me out, what if someone else patented the coke-a-cola recipe. Would the company then be forced to pay royalties to the patenter, or would the company ignore them? I think there’d be a lawsuit no matter what, but still fun to think about
You can't patent a product the is already on the market
The someone would have no power over Coca Cola. Sue Coca Cola for royalties? Well, you'd have to prove a) that CC uses the patented recipe and b) their product wasn't already on the market when you patented the recipe. (Prior art, so your patent would be invalid anyway.) So you can't really prove a) and even if you did, you have no chance in hell to prove b).
@@klopferator Not to mention that you would have to go up against an entire army of lawyers.
Question: How do governments know Coke is safe for consumption and approval if the recipe is secret?
They submit the list of ingredients without quantities as well as a handful of dummy ingredients that are given the greenlight. Similar to how they hand the recipe to a rabbi to get it labelled as kosher.
The answer is that the recepie isnt secret.
His name was Asa CANDLER - there's an 'L' in the name.
@2:54 well, a group of two people is the smallest "small group" you can have 🙂
doesn't coca cola have different flavors and recipes depending on country?
No.
Yeah. This channel is basically comedy, don't expect Kurzgesagt levels of research.
The bottling plants in each country add different amounts of sugar, water, and other ingredients to the mixture, which is what gives it different flavors, but the mixture stays the same
I’d honestly say my local Jewel has gotten close with its recipe, having been able to use it to fool a coke fan. Difference being it used cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup and was able to use less to achieve the same sugary taste.
I'm low key ok with the recipe being a secret. Because once the secret is revealed it's no longer fun anymore to speculate about or be surprised if theres a change. It's like opening all your presents before Christmas. When the holiday finally arrives, you're just not excited about it, a bit of that magic is lost. Which is why yes, I clicked on this for that reason. I knew the answers wouldn't be provided by some random youtuber that has the same voice tone in every video with really bad jokes, but it adds to the "When Santa Claus comes" magic.
Definitely sorta, half, a little, kinda interesting.
This is the fact that I am surprised that they left. Truly, coca-cola was "created" by a Valencian, from Spain. Then, the American arrived who tried it, liked it, took it and started the brand. Have a nice day.
Same thing with red bull
What if someone has an allergy to one of the "secret" ingredients (be it coke or KFC or any other secret recipe)?
Pure bad luck. A lot of western countries have 'legal allergens' like gluten, soy or nuts for example and if a country has laws like these then a company must list those allergens or if cross contamination is possible they must disclose this as well. But this does not apply to allergens that aren't on that list, take raw pineapple for example. If you make some recipe with blended raw pineapple as a secret ingredient you can leave it out of the ingredient-list. Yes, some people are allergic to it but it's not one of the allergens defined by law so a company isn't obliged to disclose this.
@@NickyHendriks To be fair to them, I've never heard of anyone having an allergy (or autoimmune response in general) to coke. Google yields a few cases but it seems extremely rare. It just seems strange that a product can be cleared by a country's food standards agency without disclosing the contents / proportions of its ingredients.
"Caffine" I sure hope somebody got fired for that typo.
There is no secret ingredient.
- Mr Ping from Kung Fu Panda
Basic Cola recipe: Caramel syrup, which comes from melting and toasting sugar in a frying pan, mixed with sparkling water, about 10 parts water to one part caramel. BOOM!!
lol no
As an avid coke drinker, this sounds gross
@@molotera8789 That's the main ingredient though. Add some phosphoric acid and you have cola. The rest makes the subtle differences in brands. Though actual cola companies do not make caramel that way, but from sulfite and ammonia. And then add sugar, because that's not as sweet as sugar caramel.
Another certified hood classic
I feel like the easiest way would be to actually have several fake recipes, too, that a few employees also know but think that they're the real ones, so basically no one knows who actually knows
The recipe at the start must be for a flavour syrup, as there is more sugar and water.
I actually like pepsi more. Coca cola foams a little in my mouth and that hides the taste slightly and feels awkward like millions of tiny bread crumbs. Pepsi doesn't foam in mouth and feels like water
I always tell people this.
How is it possibly legal that there is only one company allowed to import coca leaves and make the extract? This is the sort of corruption that is Russian level that sometimes happens in America!
I guess another company could get the same license if they wanted to, but the necessary certification and auditing, plus the small demand, just doesn't make that economically viable.
How many are needed? There is not much of a market for coca leaves
That one company actually produces cocaine for medical uses. That's a small market. The stuff that Coca Cola buys from them is basically a waste product. They're not given exclusive right to use that either, contrary to what Sam says. It's just that nobody else wants it. Coca Cola probably just keeps it because of its brand. It doesn't do anything for the flavor. Coca plants taste nothing like Coca Cola.
The formula can be reverse engineered in a lab with ease, and then weighted and tested to figure out ratios. Also, the addictivness of Coke is in it's name. COCA LEAFS
Whole lotta effort for something that tastes like corn syrup after the first 5 sips