Coca-cola is a drink that has won love all over the world. It is especially popular among young people and the younger generation. The unusual taste and aroma of the drink make you take another sip, and then buy another bottle. What is our favorite soda made of?
To answer this question, you need to make a small excursion into the century before last. In 1886, a pharmacist living in Atlanta, experimenting with ingredients for a new medicine, created a drink that was later called Coca-Cola.
In those early days, the composition of Coca-Cola included an extract from the leaves of the coca leaf, from which cocaine was used for medical purposes. The second ingredient in the drink is an extract of the fruit of a walnut tree called cola. In the 19th century, cocaine was used not only as a medicine, but its powder was added to many soft drinks to add its tonic properties.
Naturally, for almost a century and a half, the composition of Coca-Cola has changed, but some components have remained the same.
Until recently, the composition of Coca-Cola was strictly classified, but now the full list of ingredients has been made public.
- liquid extract of coca leaf, this ingredient has remained from those ancient times;
- caffeine, which has invigorating and stimulating properties. Few people know that a 500 ml bottle of cola provides the body with a three-day norm of caffeine;
- lemon acid. This is a natural preservative that ensures long-term storage of the drink, by the way, and many other food products too;
- lime juice is a relative of the lemon we are used to;
- caramel, which is obtained by prolonged heating of sugar. It is caramel that forms the unusual taste of the drink;
- carbon dioxide is the substance that makes the drink carbonated;
In principle, the usual composition of any drink, but more interesting components will go further:
- orthophosphoric acid, which affects the tooth enamel, provoking its destruction;
- various sweeteners, such as cyclamate and its derivatives, aspartame and some others, the harm of which has long been proven;
- additive E 211, i.e. sodium benzoate. In general, sodium benzoate - this antifungal and antibacterial agent, why it is added to the drink - is not entirely clear, but, nevertheless, it is present in Coca-Cola;
- carmine - a dye that gives the drink its brown-caramel shade. Carmine is completely natural, but it is obtained from dried and crushed insects, and to be more precise, from cochineal females. Perhaps this is one of the few natural ingredients in Coca-Cola.
Drinking or not drinking cola is a personal matter and a choice of everyone, but children with their fragile digestive system and the elderly should not be pampered with this drink.
