Secret of the Coca Cola Recipe and the Coca Leaf
Coca Cola, Evo Morales, and what Our Governments Do Not Want Us to Know about the Coca Leaf
Today in Bolivia, March 12th it is National Coca Leaf Awareness Day and in the rest of the world it is the 119th Anniversary of the First Bottle of Coca-Cola.
Most of us have heard something about the history of Coca-Cola and know that the potion was first presented as a medicinal tonic invented by John Pemberton in 1886. We also know his beverage was quickly discovered by businessmen of the time and the Coca Cola Company was born. Shortly after the corporation that we know today was formed in 1888, the inventor of Coca-Cola, John Pemberton died.
In reality the Coca-Cola that people drink today barely resembles the original concoction created by its maker in the 19th Century, who originally produced coca wine until the Victorian temperance era. When Pemberton created Coca Cola he was actually looking to create a non-alcoholic feel good drink that produced noticeable benefit. We know today from all the claims and well-documented evidence that the drink the invented that day became well-known as nerve tonic for anxious ladies, it became a cure for a great number of afflictions, helped with common disease conditions like diabetes and hypertension, and it served as a panacea to everyone who was not sick that drank it.
For the 15 years following Pemberton's death, the owners of the Coca Cola Company took the drink to market making it exclusively available at soda fountains and ice cream parlors that were associated with/or a part of neighborhood pharmacies of the era. Those who drank Coca-Cola were energized, alleviated of joint pains, then were sent off singing and feeling great. Driven by the well earned popularity, effectiveness, and demand of their product as a cure-all they put their plans in action to capitalize on their investment, so on March 12, 1894 in Vicksburg, Mississippi when they began bottling the drink commercially for the very first time.
In later years it's often said that they removed the cocaine from Coca-Cola. However this is simply not the case, what we do know is, that around 1903 Coca-Cola stopped using fresh coca leaves and began using the spent coca leaves leftover after the alkaloids had been extracted by pharmaceutical firms when cocaine sulfate and hydro-chloride were widely used as an anesthetics.
Today they still use the spent or "de-cocainized leaves" which are in essence a waste product of the controlled and regulated coca laboratories in the US, and thanks to modern technology they manage to squeeze enough out of the spent leaves to create an extract that Coca-Cola uses today as a flavoring and a part of their so-called secret formula.
There is no documentation that the corporation was looking to remove the cocaine specifically from their beverage at this particular moment in history, because the pure crystalline form was available in most pharmacies for many years afterwards until it was discovered that many people began abusing it around 1910. In 1914 the pure cocaine powder came to require a prescription or doctor's order.
What has become evident while doing research is that the demand for cocaine increased among the pharmaceutical firms during the early 1900's and coca leaves from Peru and Bolivia became very hard to acquire especially for the Coca Cola Company. In order to stay as true to their recipe as possible, they opted for and used the coca leaf residuals of the pharmaceutical firms which appeared was their only option nine years after the first bottle was produced.
Since 1903 the production of soft drinks has become a trillion dollar business, the Coca-Cola Company did the right things at the right time to become a pioneer and leader capitalizing on the opportunities created by the demand they created, now today they control around 40% of all the containerized beverages in the world including juice, tea, soft drinks, and even bottled water.
The result today is a soft drink that has added artificial coloring, caffeine, caramel, phosphoric acid, sugar, vanilla, other spices and of course spent coca leaves, it even still contains trace amounts of cocaine and related alkaloids. In chemical analyses on Coca-Cola produced after 1929 only trace amounts less than 1 mg of cocaine per bottle compared to the whopping 7-9 mg per bottle in 1900.
Coca leaves can be found growing wild and naturally in the Western Amazon and in the lush forested foothills of the Andes from Venezuela to Chile and even parts of Argentina. Indigenous Americans have been using coca leaves at least 6000 years based on archaeological evidence of their use as food and medicine throughout this region.
Indigenous people long before the Inca, used coca in rituals, as medicine, and as food. The coca leaf is used today the very similarly by these same traditional peoples.
In 1961 however the United Nations created a law called the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs which called for the eradication of the coca plant in Peru and Bolivia by 2011, as well as other places it is cultivated illicitly in sequential global narcotics accords, sometimes referred to colloquially as the Vienna Convention, which were approved in 1971 and 1988, that 188 member nations have ratified.
The secrets between the government and the Coca-Cola Company involves money, taxes, jobs, commerce and control over the world's coca resources. Their secrets are mass marketing, advertising, more advertising and the romance developed with the public when they began. There is certainly no secret in the bottle.
If people knew about natural herbal coca and used it like Pemberton did then the Coca Cola Company would be no more, because everyone would prepare beverages, teas and candies using coca and would have no need for any watered down or less effective beverages, they would want the "Real Thing."
The revenue stream generated and created by Coca-Cola products is greater than that of most civilized nations, the company only directly employs just under 100,000 top level employees, but across the globe there are literally millions of others that base their livelihoods on their products when you include all their distributors, bottlers, and independent vendors that are all individually owned.
The secrets of a successful business are often shrouded in mystery and the idea of the secret itself is even more intriguing. This is the case of the Coca-Cola Company, we already know that we are not drinking the same naturally produced Coca-Cola recipe invented by John Pemberton or even really a facsimile thereof, the formula today has new chemicals that were not even invented until the mid 20th Century and on top of it all, the corporate hand of Coca Cola a replaced the fresh leaves with spent washed coca leaves probably to cut costs or out of need to use coca as an ingredient. The original formula had clear medical benefits and was marketed as a medicinal feel good drink.
The Secret Formula that Changed the World
The secrets of a successful business are often shrouded in mystery and the idea of the secret itself is even more intriguing. This is the case of the Coca-Cola Company, we already know that we are not drinking the same naturally produced Coca-Cola recipe invented by John Pemberton or even really a facsimile thereof, the formula today has new chemicals that were not even invented until the mid 20th Century and on top of it all, the corporate hand of Coca Cola a replaced the fresh leaves with spent washed coca leaves probably to cut costs or out of need to use coca as an ingredient. The original formula had clear medical benefits and was marketed as a medicinal feel good drink.
Now this past January 2013, Morales succeeded in legalizing the coca leaf from the international point of view of the United Nations for use inside Bolivia. Further it is completely legal for anyone to go there and use it, just like going to Amsterdam to smoke marijuana and drink coca tea in a way, but legally, in Amsterdam its actually illegal, yet tolerated, but they import coca leaves and tolerate their new coca liquor (Agwa) pretty well, however they objected to Bolivia along with the US and 13 other countries to making coca legal in Bolivia two months ago in January. (Sounds like there may be a Dutch Coca Leaf Conspiracy to unravel soon.)
The result today is a soft drink that has added artificial coloring, caffeine, caramel, phosphoric acid, sugar, vanilla, other spices and of course spent coca leaves, it even still contains trace amounts of cocaine and related alkaloids. In chemical analyses on Coca-Cola produced after 1929 only trace amounts less than 1 mg of cocaine per bottle compared to the whopping 7-9 mg per bottle in 1900.
According to Wikipedia, "The Coca-Cola formula is The Coca-Cola Company's secret recipe for Coca-Cola syrup that bottlers combine with carbonated water to create "Coca-Cola" soft drinks. As a publicity, marketing, and intellectual property protection strategy started by Robert W. Woodruff, the company presents the formula as a closely held trade secret known only to a few employees."
I have no doubt that Pemberton's secret recipe for Coca Cola is probably locked away in a vault somewhere. The biggest fraud though is that billions of people around the planet think that the soft drink "Coca-Cola Original" is made from that secret recipe. The only secret then is that the real secret recipe is not on the market today.
Maybe if we could drink Pemberton's original recipe Coca-Cola we would know more.
Top scientists, nutritionists, United Nations experts and medical doctors have all said that the natural coca leaf is one of the most nutritional foods known to man and there are no negative effects for those who consume it. In 1975 the University of Harvard did a study to analyze the coca leaf and conferred with other nutritional evidence. There are 14 alkaloids and over 32 vitamins and minerals, the leaf contains non-nitrogen proteins, flavonoids, and other beneficial properties.
It is a Violation of Human Rights to Stop the Bolivians from Growing Coca
Coca leaves can be found growing wild and naturally in the Western Amazon and in the lush forested foothills of the Andes from Venezuela to Chile and even parts of Argentina. Indigenous Americans have been using coca leaves at least 6000 years based on archaeological evidence of their use as food and medicine throughout this region.
Indigenous people long before the Inca, used coca in rituals, as medicine, and as food. The coca leaf is used today the very similarly by these same traditional peoples.
In 1961 however the United Nations created a law called the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs which called for the eradication of the coca plant in Peru and Bolivia by 2011, as well as other places it is cultivated illicitly in sequential global narcotics accords, sometimes referred to colloquially as the Vienna Convention, which were approved in 1971 and 1988, that 188 member nations have ratified.
What the United Nations did not consider in their decision was the importance of the coca leaf among the Andean people not as an income source for the production of illicit cocaine but as the traditional food and medicine that they have been using for 6000 years. Eradication of the coca plant or the prohibition of the free and open use of the coca leaf by the indigenous people would be a direct violation of their human rights to preserve their identity and live within their traditional culture and belief systems.
In 2006 the first ever indigenous leader was raised to the office of a presidency, in Bolivia, Evo Morales was elected by a landslide victory with great opposition presented by the United States and other European governments and media. In 2007 he promoted the use of the coca leaf as his ancestors and brothers use it and have used it for centuries.
The Secrets between the World Government, the Coca Cola Company and the Public
The secrets between the government and the Coca-Cola Company involves money, taxes, jobs, commerce and control over the world's coca resources. Their secrets are mass marketing, advertising, more advertising and the romance developed with the public when they began. There is certainly no secret in the bottle.
Evo Morales, Indigenous Americans and scientists are all aware that the coca leaf in its natural form is powerful sacred natural medicine, they know the big secret (coca is good for you) and they use it naturally as tea, a natural snack and as a food supplement and they have been doing so for 6000 years.
As Pemberton discovered the leaf when brewed into a tea or macerated into a wine or liquor that maintained good health, alleviated addictions, cured numerous sicknesses, and stimulated lucidity of mental faculties among other things.
It would be a disaster for the Coca-Cola and the individual interests of government economies that the company generates revenues, if the people of the world were to discover that the real natural coca leaf REALLY IS as nutritional as the Harvard Study of 1975 suggests and that it really is a cure all and panacea for those who use it. What would they do with all the rich Bolivians and how would the corruption continue if coca were used internationally?
If it were legalized and distributed internationally as food and medicine around the world people would drink the tea and chew the leaves, it is ridiculous to think that individuals would go through the trouble of building a laboratory and purchasing the chemicals to make cocaine from coca leaf or thousands of coca tea bags. Coca leaves treated as food would drive the cost up too high to produce cheap street cocaine, after the chemicals the cost would be near $3,000 per gram.
Based on my research I discovered that the Coca Cola Company was responsible in part for the prohibition of the coca leaf and the establishment of laws relative to its penalization in other countries dating back to 1939. I am sure there is more to discover, but meanwhile I encourage everyone who reads my article to keep an open mind about the natural coca leaf, respect others who use it traditionally and those who want to come to Bolivia or any of the other countries where it is legal on a local basis, like in Venezuela, Northern Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia or Peru.
If people knew about natural herbal coca and used it like Pemberton did then the Coca Cola Company would be no more, because everyone would prepare beverages, teas and candies using coca and would have no need for any watered down or less effective beverages, they would want the "Real Thing."
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola Company
cocaine
John Pemberton
March 12
Peru
secret formula
soft drinks
United States
Venezuela
Col. David J. Wright
Col. Wright works for Globcal International as the executive administrator and a cooperative contractor authorized by its charter. On the behalf of the Commonwealth of Kentucky he is a Kentucky Colonel and formerly international cooperation ambassador of goodwill for the city of Caracas in Venezuela. He pioneered Goodwill Ambassadors of the World, published in 2009, from Goodwill Ambassadors, Inc. est. 1992. He is the executive commissioner of the Goodwill Ambassador Foundation, est. 2013.
