It's something, but it's not the real thing, Coca-Cola says.
Rumors have been buzzing that the super-secret recipe for the iconic soft drink had finally been divulged through a 1979 newspaper clipping and a story on public radio's "This American Life."
"Rest assured that while many third parties have tried over time to crack the secret formula of Coca-Cola ... there truly is only one 'real thing,' " Ted Ryan, Coca-Cola's manager of archives and exhibits, wrote Wednesday on a company blog.
The company insists the formula is locked in a bank vault in Atlanta, Georgia, and only a handful of employees know it or have access to it.
The 19th-century handwritten list of ingredients that "This American Life" host Ira Glass found pictured in a 1979 column in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution may have been an attempt at a knockoff, Coca-Cola's official archivist, Phil Mooney, told CNN.
Interest in the secret recipe is so high that heavy traffic reportedly brought down the radio show's Web server after the segment aired.
While the formula Glass found might have some relation to the original product of the 1800s, it clearly is not today's recipe: The list of ingredients includes coca and alcohol, a Tuesday story in the Journal-Constitution notes.
All the secrecy is nothing more than marketing anyway, experts insist.
"Today, anybody with access to a sophisticated chemistry laboratory could analyze the formula of Coke, but no one can call a product called Coke other than the Coca-Cola Company," John Sicher, editor and publisher of "Beverage Digest," told the paper. "The so-called 'secret formula' is a wonderful story of lore and mystery, but in reality, the value today is the brand, not the formula."
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
I throw coke onto the negative and positive poles of the car battery to avoid corrosion
I say its time the government test this stuff and see how much of the carmel coloring causes cancer. My favorite Pepsi too. Pepsi is sweeter.
Hi.
hey there coca-cola corporate shill! how you doing today?
And this is why you are a moron sire.
everone says that and then when they do blind taste tests NOBODY can tell the difference. It's all in your head.
I totally agree!! Coke is #1 and will always be!!!!!!
I have to agree with you Pete...however, when I ask a restaurant if they hv Coke or Pepsi, if they say Pepsi, I am out the door and on my way to a place that serves Coke.
I'm the same way! I actually try to avoid restaurants that I know don't serve Coke. I used to hate subway, now i love it.
If your dining experience relies so heavily on a beverage, you are obviously eating in the wrong establishment.
@Mitchell: I will have to disagree with you. I can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi as accutely as I can tell the difference between Coke and Diet Coke. Not saying either one tastes bad. Just saying their flavors are distinctly different. People who say they can't tell the difference.. well I dont' know what's wrong with their taste buds. Maybe they smoke too much, I don't know.
LMAO.Who leaves a restaurant because of what beverage company they use?? Some of you have some serious issues to work out.
People who only drink coke need to grow up. Very childish
@ pete
When someone tells me they only serve Pepsi, I threaten to sue if I don't get a coke. If that does work I assault their employees.
However time to time, I don’t over react. I normally accept Pepsi knowing that it actually tastes exactly same.
Pepsi is way better than Coke, dude. WAY betterer.