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coca-cola's statement is technically true but intentionally misleading, and a lot of people are commenting based on the misconception that coca leaf doesn't contain cocaine

coca leaf does contain cocaine; cocaine is not a molecule synthesized from something in the coca leaf in the way that methamphetamine is synthesized from natural pseudoephedrine. the coca leaf contains cocaine in doses significant enough to be psychoactive, which is why people 'chew' it and make tea from it. when people make refined cocaine from coca leaf, they're just concentrating the cocaine already present, not chemically changing it, except that they may change it between the free base alkakoid form and a salt with some anion like chloride

coca-cola, like several other drinks of the era such as vin mariani, contained an extract of coca leaf containing a therapeutically significant dose of cocaine. it is true that it did not contain cocaine as an ingredient, but saying that and then not explaining that it did contain cocaine is lying by omission. in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41135533 bawolff gives the excellent analogy of saying that sugar is not an ingredient in orange juice: true, but the majority of the non-water content of orange juice is still sugar

It's like a fruit juice saying "no added sugar". They don't add any sugar to the juice but it's definitely not sugar-free. Same with old coke, they never added cocaine but it wasn't cocaine-free.
yeah! you know what, it's almost like saying that sugar isn't an ingredient in apple juice
From TFA: “That same year [1901], Candler called for a change to the Coca-Cola formula, replacing cocaine with heavier doses of sugar and caffeine—and started denying that the soda had ever contained cocaine to begin with.”
Cocaine was never a coca-cola ingredient. The intro to the article exaggerates for narrative effect.

Coca leaf was, and still is, an ingredient in coca-cola.

So both cocaine and coca-cola are made with coca leaf, but coca-cola is not and never has been made with cocaine.

It depends on how you define an "ingredient" and "made with". Was pure cocaine added to the original Coca-Cola during manufacturing? No. Was cocaine one of the naturally occurring substances in coca leaf extract that was put in Coke? Yes.

The FDA considers caffeine an ingredient in things like soda and energy drinks because it's dosed and added to the beverage. But the FDA doesn't consider the naturally occurring caffeine in coffee beans as an ingredient in something like coffee beans or a canned cold brew. A manufacturer might list caffeine content to help consumers but they aren't required to do so.

Is gluten an ingredient in flour? Not to the FDA but it's still in there. Is sugar an ingredient in fresh squeezed orange juice? No but it's still in there.

Every other source I find other than Coke's official website says otherwise, including pretty authoritative sources including the U.S. government:

https://www.justthinktwice.gov/article/did-coca-cola-ever-co...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca#Commercial_and_industrial...

Before the criminalization of cocaine, however, the extract was not decocainized

So they are right that cocaine was not intentionally added.

It's correct to say the processed powdery form of cocaine was never added.

But actually cocaine was intentionally added, as a byproduct of adding Coca.

More complete excerpt:

> Before the criminalization of cocaine, however, the extract was not decocainized, and hence Coca-Cola's original formula did indeed include cocaine.

You can still get a buzz off chewing raw coca leaf, but it's not in the same ballpark as doing a line in NYC, SV, or Miami. I recall from Drugs Inc, it's more like a caffeine effect when consumed this way.

Honestly sounds kinda nice. Sometimes, C caffeine lasts too long.
The only official DEA source I can find for the fact that coca leaf extract is still used to make Coca Cola is the museum page on coca: https://museum.dea.gov/exhibits/online-exhibits/cannabis-coc...

The funny thing is that the slideshow at the bottom of the page gives anyone with even a limited knowledge of alkali extraction (like DMT acid-base) everything they need to know about extracting cocaine.

There's also a NY Times article (from 1988) discussing it.

https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/01/business/how-coca-cola-ob...

>Cocaine was never a coca-cola ingredient.

yeah the same way thc is not an ingredient in your roommate's special brownies

That's kind of like saying edibles don't have weed in them. While technically correct, it's dishonest.
I think a better comparison is marketing orange juice as sugar free (because no sugar was added)
You cannot market orange juice as sugar free. Only "No sugar added"

"Sugar Free" is based entirely on the amount of sugar per serving size of finished product. It does not care where the sugar came from. Any product that contains less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving can be labeled "Sugar Free".

This has the fun outcome that tiny candies made entirely of sugar can be sold as "Sugar Free"

> You cannot market orange juice as sugar free. Only "No sugar added"

Indeed, that was the point of the meraphor. By the same token it is wrong to say origi nal coca-cola was cocaine free.

Disagree, it's like saying that jet fuel doesn't have plastic in it. They're both made from crude oil but they are totally different and do not contain one another.

No one claims cocaine contains coca-cola.

Cocaine is present in coca leaf. Coca-Cola is not present in coca leaf.

Coca-Cola contained coca leaf contains cocaine (in small amounts?)

Cocaine is made from coca leaf (which does not contain Coca-Cola)

Coca-Cola is still made with coca leaf, but today, it's decocainized. (And since it's impossible to remove 100% of the cocaine molecules from the coca leaf, Coca-Cola still contains extremely tiny trace amounts of cocaine.)
> The coca leaf itself includes the active cocaine alkaloid which may be released through chewing or consumed in a powder-like form.

From Wikipedia

Interesting. I learned something new today :) thank you!
Yes, the article.

> That same year, Candler called for a change to the Coca-Cola formula, replacing cocaine with heavier doses of sugar and caffeine—and started denying that the soda had ever contained cocaine to begin with.

I wonder what's the total effect of this drug policy on obesity rates.
Surely a corporation would never lie to us.
Every time I've taken the tour at the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta, the question has come up and they consistently deny it. I think next time I'll ask the question as whether or not Coco leaves were included in the original formula. I'll bet I get the wrong answer.
"Is it true that prior to aggressive anti-drug legislation, the cocoa leaf extract that was used in coca-cola was not specifically de-cocainized thereby causing coca-cola to possibly contain quantities of cocaine that were possibly significant to the consumer?"

Idk, just lawyer proof the question as much as possible..

Sure, grill the highschooler reciting the company line—that’s the way to be the most popular person in the tour group.
Technically there was never cocaine in coca-cola. It was the coca leaf that was added which is the raw material used to make cocaine.
"cocaine" is just concentrated coca leaf. There's no chemical transformation happening. It's a purification process, like mint or vanilla extract.