To often, instead of informing the public, the art of public relations becomes the art of misleading the public. Thus I was suspicious when I read the following in the Washington Times (here).
In Atlanta, a spokesman for the Coca-Cola Co. declined to discuss the ingredients in the world’s most popular soft drink.
“As a matter of policy, for proprietary reasons, the Coca-Cola Company does not disclose information about what flavorings we do or do not use,” the spokesman said.
The use of coca leaves in Coke could explain a persistent urban legend that the original formula invented by Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886 contained cocaine.
“Neither Coca-Cola nor any other product of the Coca-Cola Company has ever used cocaine as an ingredient,” the Coke spokesman said.
Long ago, I had read in another newspaper that Coca-Cola had contained cocaine. After a little research, I determined that what the Coke spokesman said slyly skirts the truth. Nonetheless, I decided to check the matter on Coca-Cola’s web site. In response to the following question, here is how Coca-Cola responds (here).
QUESTION: Did Coca-Cola contain cocaine?
ANSWER: Coca-Cola does not contain cocaine or any other harmful substance, and cocaine has never been an added ingredient for Coca-Cola.
Again, this answer is truthful, but just the same, it is misleading. At one time, Coca-Cola did contain cocaine. Here is what Snopes.com had to say about the matter (here).
Coca-Cola was named back in 1885 for its two “medicinal” ingredients: extract of coca leaves and kola nuts. Just how much cocaine was originally in the formulation is hard to determine, but the drink undeniably contained some cocaine in its early days.
Snopes.com also notes that after the company realized that cocaine could be harmful, the Coca-Cola company went to considerable efforts to remove all traces of cocaine from their product.
Wikipedia provides a similar, if more detailed, explanation of this subject (here).
The beverage was named Coca-Cola because, originally, the stimulant mixed in the beverage was coca leaves from South America. In addition, the drink was flavored using kola nuts, also acting as the beverage’s source of caffeine. Pemberton called for five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup, a significant dose, whereas, in 1891, Candler claimed his formula (altered extensively from Pemberton’s original) contained only a tenth of this amount. Coca-Cola did once contain an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass but after 1904 Coca-Cola started using, instead of fresh leaves, “spent” leaves – the leftovers of the cocaine-extraction process with cocaine trace levels left over at a molecular level. However, as cocaine is one of numerous alkaloids present in the coca leaf, it was nevertheless present in the drink. Today, the flavoring is still done with kola nuts and the “spent” coca leaf. In the United States, there is only one plant (in New Jersey) authorized by the Federal Government to grow the coca plant for Coca-Cola syrup manufacture.
Understandably, the Coca-Cola Company does not like to admit that its product once contained cocaine, not even in small amounts. Nonetheless, at one time Coca-Cola did contain cocaine. Moreover, Coca-Cola still is not good for you (here). Even Coca-Cola realizes its product has issues (here). However, the main object of any corporation is to make money, and that is just the way it is. Each of us has the responsibility to look after our health and the health of our children. In truth, nobody else can be counted upon to do that job for us.
The moral character of a society is not determined by its governmental and/or private institutions. The People themselves decide the character of their society. We cannot give up that job to someone else. When we depend upon our institutions educate us, we lose control of the information we receive. When we depend wholly upon someone else to protect us, we are their slaves. As Ronald Reagan once put it so aptly:
I don’t believe in a government that protects us from ourselves.
Fortunately, fact checking can be quite amusing. Compare these three accounts about the life of John Pemberton, one from the Coca-Cola Company (here), another from Answers.com (here), and a third from the Library of Congress (here).
