Coca-cola is a drink that has won love all over the world. It is especially popular among young people and the younger generation. The unusual taste and aroma of the drink makes you take another sip, and then purchase another bottle. What does all our favorite soda consist of?
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To answer this question, you need to make a short excursion into the century before last. In 1886, a pharmacist living in Atlanta, experimenting with the ingredients for a new medicine, created a drink that was later called Coca-Cola.
The composition of Coca-Cola in those old days included an extract from the leaves of a cocaine sheet, from which cocaine was used, which was used for medical purposes. The second ingredient in the drink is an extract of walnut fruit called cola. In the 19th century, cocaine was used not only as a medicine, its powder was added to many soft drinks to add tonic properties.
Naturally, for almost a century and a half, the composition of Coca-Cola has changed, but some components remained the same.
Until recently, the composition of Coca-Cola was strictly classified, but at present a complete list of ingredients has been made public.
So what is included in Coca-Cola?
- a liquid extract of cocaine leaf, this ingredient has remained since those ancient times;
- Caffeine, which has invigorating and stimulating properties. Few people know that a 500 ml bottle of cola provides the body with a three-day norm of caffeine;
- lemon acid. This is a natural preservative that provides long-term storage of the drink, by the way, and many other food products, too;
- lime juice is akin to the usual lemon;
- caramel, which is obtained by prolonged heating of sugar. It is caramel that forms the unusual taste of the drink;
- carbon dioxide is the substance that makes the drink carbonated;
In principle, the usual composition of any drink, but more interesting components will go further:
- phosphoric acid, which acts on tooth enamel, causing its destruction;
- various sweeteners, such as cyclamate and its derivatives, aspartame and some others, the harm of which has long been proven;
- additive E 211, i.e. sodium benzoate. In general, sodium benzoate - this antifungal and antibacterial agent, why it is added to the drink - is not entirely clear, but, nevertheless, it is present in Coca-Cola;
- carmine is a dye that gives the drink its brown-caramel hue. Carmine is completely natural, but it is obtained from dried and crushed insects, and to be exact, they are cochineal from females. Perhaps this is one of the few natural ingredients in Coca-Cola.
Drinking or not drinking Coke is a personal matter and everyone’s choice, but children with their fragile digestive system and elderly people are not the best ones to indulge with this drink.