What is cola made from. What is Coca-Cola made of (3 photos)
On a hot summer day, it's so nice to have a glass of chilled carbonated drink, loved by everyone in the world: from small children to the elderly. "Coca-Cola" is probably the most popular soda, which has long ceased to need advertising. Around the drink there are constant discussions and disputes about its true composition and effect on the health of the body. The question of what Coca-Cola is made of today, when everyone more people switches to healthy lifestyle life, as relevant as ever.
From origins to truth
To understand the secret of making soda, let's turn to its history. And it began back in 1886 in a pharmacy owned by a pharmacist named Pemberton. He got the drink as a result of a complex chemical experiment, using coca leaves and cola fruits - the main ingredients of Coca-Cola. By the way, the walnut tree was called cola, but the coca was nothing more than the leaves of the coca bush. No wonder Coca-Cola was advertised as a cure for nerves. True, there was nothing wrong with these components, because at that time cocaine was not considered a drug, but was added to drinks as a tonic. Later, the producers of the soda, which was already beloved at that time, had to abandon coca when society and the government began to talk about its dangers.
Chemistry in your favorite drink
However, the question of whether the former composition of the drink was more harmful than what Coca-Cola is made of today is quite controversial. The taste of modern soda is determined by several completely harmless components, such as vanillin, lemon, clove and cinnamon oils. However, in addition to them, the drink contains a whole collection chemical substances. These are aspartame, which reduces the level of serotonin in the body, phosphoric acid, which contributes to the destruction of tooth enamel, as well as no less harmful caffeine, sugar in large quantities, and some others. The composition of Coca-Cola, therefore, is by no means useful.
Secret "animal" ingredient
The answer to the question of what Coca-Cola is made of does not end there. The fact is that numerous disputes and studies about the dangers of the popular drink forced manufacturers to discover the secret of the full composition of cola. And the information received shocked the public. Namely, the fact that a pleasant golden brown color of soda is obtained by adding carmine. As you know, this food coloring is obtained from insects, female cochineal. They are dried, processed into powder and used to color the product. The very realization that bugs are used to produce cola is rather unpleasant. Although the natural origin of the carmine dye speaks more about its harmlessness, and not vice versa.
Do not drink, children, soda - you will be healthy
But there are many other components in Coca-Cola, the harm and even danger of which to human health can hardly be overestimated. stomach disorders, urolithiasis disease, calcium deficiency, allergies - this is only a small part of the consequences that frequent use of soda, in particular cola, can lead to. If you have already thought about what Coca-Cola is made of, then health care is one of your life priorities. Soda, unfortunately, is not among the useful products. So, it is worth trying to find a healthier and harmless alternative to this drink.
The non-alcoholic carbonated tonic drink Coca-Cola (Coca-cola) first appeared on May 8, 1886 in the United States, thanks to pharmacist John Stith Pimberton. The drink's name and logo were created by Pemberton's accountant, Frank Robinson. Initially, the drink was not carbonated, the composition had the leaves of the coca plant (coca) and the nuts of the kola tree (kola), from which it got its name. The drink was considered medicinal (from nervous disorders, melancholy, headache, to stimulate brain activity) and was sold in a pharmacy. The stimulating, tonic effect of the drink was explained by the fact that coca leaves contain the narcotic substance cocaine, and cola nuts contain caffeine (psychostimulant). After the harmfulness of cocaine was proven in the late 1890s, fresh coca leaves were no longer added to Coca-Cola, but already squeezed ones, from which all cocaine was removed.
If you look at the label of a bottle or can of classic Coca-Cola, we will see the following composition:
- water,
- sugar (high fructose corn syrup is used in the US, and sweeteners are used instead of sugar in the Coca-Cola Light and Coca-Cola Diet versions),
- carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide),
- dye E-150d (one of the 4 varieties of the additive "Sugar color" E-150, obtained by thermal treatment of carbohydrates using ammonia-sulfite technology from different kinds fructose, glucose, sucrose and which is an almost black solution or powder with a bitter taste of burnt sugar),
- acidity regulator E-338 (orthophosphoric acid),
- caffeine,
- natural flavors.
The last line is the most important, because it contains the secret of the originality of Coca-Cola. But this secret has remained undiscovered for many years - perhaps the most closely guarded trade secret in the world. Hundreds of bottling plants around the world receive a secret concentrate that is diluted with water, added with a sweetener (sugar or corn syrup), diluted again with water, carbonated and bottled in glass or plastic bottles and aluminum cans, but the composition of this plant extract is known, maybe , to just a few people in the world.
Today it is not known whether coca leaves and cola nuts are used at all in the production of a plant extract for Coca-Cola, although Coca-Cola manufacturers themselves continue to claim this (otherwise the name of the drink ceases to reflect its composition), stipulating that cocaine is completely removed from coca leaves.
According to some, absolutely inaccurate data, the plant extract for Coca-Cola contains orange, lemon, coriander, cinnamon, lime essential oils, vanilla extract, essential oil orange blossom oil nutmeg, lemon and lime juice. It is also not known what is the source of caffeine for the production of Coca-Cola: whether it is of plant origin or artificially synthesized. AT different countries On the labels they write differently: in some countries caffeine is indicated as a separate component, while in others they write: "vegetable flavors (including caffeine)". In different countries, there are different, in addition to the classic, varieties of Coca-Cola: decaffeinated, with vanilla, with cherry flavor, raspberry flavor, etc., which implies some differences in the ingredients.
The secret formula of the drink, which the world-famous company has sacredly kept since 1886, has been revealed, the secret recipe of Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton, according to the source of the agency, includes: "sugar, phosphoric acid, caffeine, caramel, carbon dioxide and Coca-Cola extract" "But what is this strange extract? According to the results of the study, it was found to be a natural dye "carmine" or food additive "cochineal" extracted from cochineal mealybugs.In the food industry, it is also known as carminic acid, which has been assigned the international index E -120.
This is truly a strange taste! As told in the Moscow Region Research Institute of Nutrition, cochineal (French cochenille, from Spanish cochinilla), common name several species of insects from different families under the coccid order, the females of which are used to obtain red dye - carmine. That's the color of the coca label. The most valued Mexican cochineal (Dactylopius cacti), living on the aboveground organs of the cochineal cactus. Her homeland is Mexico. The recipe is really old. Back in the 20s of the last century, with the development of the production of synthetic dyes, this culture was sharply reduced, but natural carmine is still used in some industries (food, perfumery, etc.), as well as for coloring microscopic preparations.
The history of such food coloring as cochineal, also known as carmine (E120), resembles a detective novel. People learned to receive it in ancient times. Biblical legends mention a purple dye obtained from a red worm, which was used by the descendants of Noah. Indeed, carmine was obtained from cochineal insects, also known as oak bugs, or kermes. They lived in the Mediterranean countries, met in Poland and Ukraine, but the most famous was the Ararat cochineal. Back in the 3rd century, one of the Persian kings presented the Roman emperor Aurelian with a crimson-dyed woolen fabric, which became a landmark of the Capitol. Ararat cochineal is also mentioned in medieval Arabic chronicles, where it is said that Armenia produces “kirmiz” paint, used for dyeing down and woolen products, writing book engravings. However, in the 16th century, the world market appeared new type cochineal - mexican. The famous conquistador Hernan Cortes brought it from the New World as a gift to his king. The Mexican cochineal was smaller than the Ararat cochineal, but it multiplied five times a year, there was practically no fat in its thin bodies, which simplified the paint production process, and the coloring pigment was brighter. In a matter of years, a new type of carmine conquered all of Europe, while the Ararat cochineal was simply forgotten for many years. It was only at the beginning of the 19th century that Archimandrite of the Echmiadzin Monastery Isaak Ter-Grigoryan, who is also a miniaturist Sahak Tsaghkarar, succeeded in restoring the recipes of the past. In the 30s of the 19th century, Joseph Hamel, an academician of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences, became interested in his discovery, devoting an entire monograph to “living dyes”. Cochineal even tried to breed on an industrial scale. However, the appearance at the end of the 19th century of cheap aniline dyes discouraged domestic entrepreneurs from messing around with "worms".
However, it quickly became clear that the need for cochineal paint would not disappear very soon, because, unlike chemical dyes, it is absolutely harmless to the human body, which means it can be used in cooking. In the 1930s, the Soviet government decided to reduce the import of imported food products and obliged the famous entomologist Boris Kuzin to start producing domestic cochineal. The expedition to Armenia was crowned with success. A valuable insect was found. However, the war prevented its breeding. The project for the study of Ararat cochineal was resumed only in 1971, but it never came to breeding it on an industrial scale.
What else is cooked using cochineal caterpillars?
Marmalade, lollipop-type sweets, the famous Campari appetizer. Cochineal bug is used everywhere... But this is "the same taste familiar from childhood", isn't it?
With the departure of Soviet power, many products and phenomena suddenly broke into our lives and gradually became commonplace. One of the products that has become an integral part of our daily life from an overseas curiosity is Coca Cola. This drink is drunk by both children and adults. There are many legends around him, often reminiscent of scary tales. And this is not at all surprising, because the composition of Coca-Cola was kept secret for many years. And people are such that if they are not told something, they begin to invent the missing details themselves. Of course, the packaging indicates the approximate composition of the product, which includes dye, carbon dioxide, phosphoric acid, caffeine, sugar or sweetener, and mysterious natural flavors. But this does not provide exhaustive information and a complete answer to the question of what Coca Cola is made of.
For a more thorough study of the issue, it is perhaps worth going back to 1886, when the pharmacist John Pemberton, a resident of Atlanta, invented a new drink. Its name, coined by Pemberton's accountant, consists of the names of the original ingredients, which were coca leaves and kola nuts - a tropical tree. This mixture was diluted with water and sold in a pharmacy, where, however, it was not very popular. It is impossible to say with complete certainty whether the story of how Coke became carbonated is not a myth. However, it is alleged that one of the visitors to the pharmacy, who suffered from a hangover, asked to add gas to the new drink. Since then, Coca Cola has been consumed with pleasure as a refreshing and tonic drink. It is worth mentioning that the Coca Cola logo has remained unchanged since the appearance of the drink. It was also coined by Pemberton's accountant.
For so many years, the drink, of course, could not remain unchanged, the various ingredients of Coca-Cola changed at different times. Until recently, the exact recipe was kept by the manufacturer in the strictest confidence. There is no doubt that the creation of excessive mystery around what Coca-Cola is made from has only served to benefit the popularity of the drink. Most of all disputes and assumptions were caused by the mysterious ingredient of Coca-Cola extract. It was supposed to consist of a mixture of components plant origin but no one knew the truth. Even the beverage factory workers couldn't clear things up, as the ingredients were mixed under code names. It turned out that in order to find out what Coca-Cola is made of, it is enough to sue the company, which, in fact, was done in Turkey. Representatives of the Turkish St. Nicholas Foundation said that according to the legislation of the country, the manufacturer is obliged to indicate the exact composition of the product on the packaging.
When the world found out what Coca-Cola is actually made of, there was no limit to the surprise of drink lovers. Not everyone was pleased to learn that the mysterious ingredient is made from insects. For the production of the natural dye carmine, which is part of Coca-Cola, female cochineal, an insect belonging to the order of Hemiptera, is used. It turns out that people have been able to get carmine since ancient times, so the producers of Coca-Cola did not invent anything new.
For especially suspicious people, the fact that an insect-derived ingredient has been added to the drink they drink may not be too pleasant. Perhaps this is partly why the component has been kept secret for so long. However, one cannot but rejoice at the fact that the carmine dye has a completely natural origin and is harmless to the body. At least, those who like to tell legends about the incredible harm brought to the body by Coca-Cola now have much less reason to scare their acquaintances.
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In 1886, pharmacist John Stith Pemberton came up with the idea of mixing coca leaves and cola nuts with carbonated water - and created perhaps the most famous drink in the world. Since then, much has changed in the recipe - cocaine was removed from there, many complex ingredients were added, and the formula of the cola that we know is carefully guarded under seven locks. Rumor has it that the recipe for the drink is known only to a few people in the entire corporation, whose names are not disclosed for security reasons. It is even argued that these top managers are not put on the same plane, so that in the event of a catastrophe, at least one bearer of sacred knowledge remains. In general, keeping the recipes of key products secret for corporations is not new - the same KFC is so shaking over its secret composition of 11 herbs and spices for breading that it mixes them in parts at two different factories, and receives the final blend at the third.
Over the 100 years of its existence, various smart people have claimed to have declassified the formula, found old notes of the founder of The Coca-Cola Company, brought it out on their own - whatever, and now, plus or minus, the exact recipe can be found in the public domain. And the composition cannot be hidden, at least for reasons of compliance with the law - the inscription on the label reads: purified sparkling water, sugar, natural caramel dye, acidity regulator phosphoric acid, natural flavors and caffeine. And now in more detail.
Purified carbonated water
In Moscow, for the production of cola, they use ordinary tap water from the city network, which is purified in several stages, bringing it to a distilled state - that is, absolutely pure, containing neither impurities nor minerals. The first stage is mechanical cleaning. Ferrous sulfate is first added to tap water - it binds organic impurities into larger particles that can already be filtered out. The water is then passed through sand filters. At the second stage, the water is purified through ion exchangers - calcium and magnesium salts are removed. According to the company's standard, they should be no more than 100 milligrams per liter of water. Then the water enters the carbon filter - Activated carbon designed to remove chlorine. The next step is the polishing filter. It has a very thin hole for the passage of water: if particles of coal are captured by the flow, the polishing filter will hold them. And the last - disinfection with ultraviolet rays. Approximately the same as those used in some medical institutions to disinfect the room.
By the way, Bon Aqua water, owned by The Coca-Cola Company, goes through the same treatment, but then it is filtered through another installation using the technology "reverse osmosis", where, with the help of pressure, it completely loses all living things that managed to survive in it. Then it is artificially mineralized - to put it simply, mixed with salts. As a result, it is rather very weakly concentrated saline solution. With natural mineral water Bon Aqua (and any other brands of water produced at Moscow factories) correlates approximately the same as ice from the Blue Lagoon in Iceland and frozen ice in a decent Moscow bar.
Photo: Varvara Gevorgizova
Sugar
After purification, the water is sent to the blending department, where syrups are brewed. First brew sugar syrup(literally - sugar is mixed with hot water). The resulting liquid is also filtered, and then a key ingredient is added to it - a concentrate, which makes Coca-Cola Coca-Cola. For Coca-Cola Vanilla, Coca-Cola Cherry and all 70 types of Fanta that exist in the world, the concentrate is their own.
It is the concentrate, and not the finished drink, that is produced at The Coca-Cola Company's factories, of which there are only five in the world: two in the USA, one each in Puerto Rico, France and Ireland. Bottling is already done by bottlers, which include the Coca-Cola Hellenic plant in Novoperedelkino. In How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation, Invention, and Discovery, British technologist Kevin Ashton explains in detail what is in the concentrate. It is prepared with high fructose corn syrup (or simply HFCS - high-fructose corn syrup) or regular sugar - the choice is made purely for economic reasons, taste difference there is no. Since the US Midwest is almost a continuous cornfield, corn syrup is cheaper to use there. At European factories, the concentrate is prepared from ordinary sugar.
Photo: Varvara Gevorgizova
According to representatives of Coca-Cola Hellenic, there are seven tablespoons of sugar per two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola, however, according to a study by the American scientific organization CSPI, there are 16 teaspoons of sugar in a half-liter bottle of soda, that is, in terms of 2 liters - about two times more. The American Heart Association considers 6-9 teaspoons of sugar per day to be the acceptable maximum. This is despite the fact that human body for normal functioning, even six spoons are not needed - and this is not the data of American researchers, but, as they say, pages of Russian history. As a separate consumer product, sugar began to appear in Russia only in the 18th century. Research brain of laboratory rats who were given cocaine and sugar along with their food showed that sugar was more addictive. Forty-three cocaine-addicted laboratory rats were offered two types of water for 15 days: one with cocaine and the other with sugar. 93% of the rats, i.e. 40 out of 43, chose sugar.
Photo: Varvara Gevorgizova
Colorant and acidity regulator
To make a concentrate, caramel color (hence the brown color of cola), phosphoric acid, flavors, and caffeine are added to sugar or HFCS.
Orthophosphoric acid is used by all manufacturers of carbonated drinks without exception, in the classification food additives it goes under the code E338 and works as an acidity regulator and preservative. The same acid is found in toilet cleaners or rust killers - everyone knows such a popular urban horror story, although we are talking about a completely different concentration of the substance. Hence the ability of cola and fanta to clean kettles from scale. Scientists believe that phosphoric acid interferes with the absorption of calcium and flushes it out of the body, and this can lead to the development of osteoporosis (increased bone fragility). Another consequence is the destruction of tooth enamel. If a hold in Coca-Cola, an egg, the shell of which, as you know, mainly consists of calcium, after a while the drink will completely corrode it. In reality, cola will bring real damage to the human body only if it is consumed every day and in large quantities. The manufacturer himself recommends limiting yourself to a can per day.
Photo: Varvara Gevorgizova
Natural flavors and caffeine
In a much smaller proportion, the concentrate contains aromatic additives: vanilla, cinnamon and coca leaf extract - the same plant from which the drug cocaine is produced and which made Coca-Cola so popular more than 100 years ago. In the US, there is only one plant that has permission from the local Drug Control Administration to import coca - Stepan Co. in New Jersey. At the plant, the leaves are processed to remove the addictive substance, cocaine, and then sold exclusively to The Coca-Cola Company. What for? We are also surprised. The final ingredient in the concentrate, caffeine, is derived from the kola nut.
Carbon dioxide
So, the sugar syrup is mixed with the concentrate, the resulting blend is pumped into a saturator - a giant vat, in which it is mixed with the same distilled water from the water supply and saturated with carbon dioxide. The plant in Novoperedelkino buys it in liquefied form and puts it into the saturator through pipes. By the way, the trick with Mentos candy, which turns a bottle of cola into dancing fountain, works precisely because Mentos, due to its porous structure, rapidly releases carbon dioxide. If you drink cola and chew it with a couple of mints, absolutely nothing will happen: firstly, the gas will leave the cola before it enters the stomach, and secondly, the porous structure of Mentos will cease to be such after chewing.
Photo: Varvara Gevorgizova
Bottling
The Moscow Coca-Cola Hellenic plant has six lines where drinks are bottled: one can, one for glass and four for plastic bottles different volume. The capacity of one line allows the production of 31 thousand half-liter bottles of cola per hour - despite the fact that the shift lasts 12 hours.
Two more lines produce syrups - for sale to institutions. At one of them, the syrup is poured into bags of 10 or 20 liters, which are sent to a cafe and inserted into special devices called Postmix - in which the syrup is mixed with sparkling water. So, strictly speaking, what is sold in paper cups in a movie theater is not the same Coca-Cola that is sold in a supermarket. It is difficult to monitor the ratio of sugar and water so that it does not differ from the factory one.
The sixth line works specifically for McDonald's. There, syrups are poured into returnable containers with a volume of 300 liters. In the same way, syrup is mixed with water already in restaurants - here's the answer to the question of how it turns out that McDonald's cola has up to 30% more sugar than stated.
In total: tap water filtered in five stages and brought to a state of distillation, a lot of sugar, phosphoric acid, coca and cola - a drink made from ingredients collected around the world, undergone multi-stage processing and packaged in plastic, will cost some 30 rubles. Is she worth the money? Of course not. But we had already gone to the vending machine for a red cold jar.
