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SW-User
It originally contained both cocaine and red wine.
The red wine was the first to be removed from the formula. Then actual [i]cocaine[/i] was removed.
However, it still contains coca leaf extract to this day, derived from coca leaves which are "decocainized" at a plant in New Jersey after being imported, with Coca Cola and their chemical company supplier being the only entities in the US that have been granted a special loophole to import coca leaves for decades. Coca Cola has also had its own secret coca farm in Hawai'i during the 1960s until disease wiped out the coca plants. So for now Coca-Cola has a monopolistic and exploitive relationship with coca farmers in Peru which grants Coca Cola sole access to any coca leaves imported (legally) into the US.
However, it is a bit odd that Coca-Cola jumps through all these extraordinary hoops to be the sole legal importer of coca into the US, when the extract is used in such small amounts that it has a negligible effect on the flavor. It's hard to imagine that regulators would make them stop using the "Coca-Cola" brand name they have spent endless amount of money promoting for the last century, just if they finally decided to completely remove coca leaf extract from the formula altogether. Meanwhile, Peruvian farmers are prohibited from exporting other harmless and traditional coca leaf-based products to the US, leaving them depending on cocaine cartels and their exploitive relationship with Coca-Cola.
2023 article:
https://www.eater.com/23620802/cocaine-in-coca-cola-coke-recipe-gastropod
2016 article:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coca-cola-has-always-had-a-connection-to-the-cocaine_b_57c8757ae4b07addc4119330
1988 article:
https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/01/business/how-coca-cola-obtains-its-coca.html
[sep]
Ironically, Coca-Cola's [i]UK[/i] website outright lies by saying it cocaine was [i]never[/i] an ingredient:
https://www.coca-cola.co.uk/our-business/faqs/does-coca-cola-contain-cocaine
The red wine was the first to be removed from the formula. Then actual [i]cocaine[/i] was removed.
However, it still contains coca leaf extract to this day, derived from coca leaves which are "decocainized" at a plant in New Jersey after being imported, with Coca Cola and their chemical company supplier being the only entities in the US that have been granted a special loophole to import coca leaves for decades. Coca Cola has also had its own secret coca farm in Hawai'i during the 1960s until disease wiped out the coca plants. So for now Coca-Cola has a monopolistic and exploitive relationship with coca farmers in Peru which grants Coca Cola sole access to any coca leaves imported (legally) into the US.
However, it is a bit odd that Coca-Cola jumps through all these extraordinary hoops to be the sole legal importer of coca into the US, when the extract is used in such small amounts that it has a negligible effect on the flavor. It's hard to imagine that regulators would make them stop using the "Coca-Cola" brand name they have spent endless amount of money promoting for the last century, just if they finally decided to completely remove coca leaf extract from the formula altogether. Meanwhile, Peruvian farmers are prohibited from exporting other harmless and traditional coca leaf-based products to the US, leaving them depending on cocaine cartels and their exploitive relationship with Coca-Cola.
2023 article:
https://www.eater.com/23620802/cocaine-in-coca-cola-coke-recipe-gastropod
2016 article:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coca-cola-has-always-had-a-connection-to-the-cocaine_b_57c8757ae4b07addc4119330
1988 article:
https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/01/business/how-coca-cola-obtains-its-coca.html
[sep]
Ironically, Coca-Cola's [i]UK[/i] website outright lies by saying it cocaine was [i]never[/i] an ingredient:
https://www.coca-cola.co.uk/our-business/faqs/does-coca-cola-contain-cocaine
