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What is the formula for Coca-Cola™?

Only one or two senior corporate officers know the exact proportions of the ingredients in Coca-Cola™. The reason why the recipe remains a secret is that the cola has never been patented. (A patent ensures the producer the legal, exclusive right to make the product for a certain period of time.)

All but one of the ingredients in Coca-Cola™ are well known—caramel, sugar, coca leaves (with cocaine content removed), cola nut extract, citric acid, sodium nitrate, caffeine, phosphoric acid, lemon, orange, lime, cassia (type of cinnamon), nutmeg oils, vanilla, and glycerine. The name of the final ingredient, known only as "7X," is one of the best-guarded secrets in the industry.

Sources: How in the World?: A Fascinating Journey Through the World of Human Ingenuity, p. 389; Pendergrast, Mark. For God, Country, and Coca-Cola; Room, Adrian. Dictionary...

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