Back in the 80s there was a ‘science news’ story that said Coke-Cola corporation used over 90% of the worlds Nutmeg. Have you ever heard this story, myth, yarn?
My late father-in-law, a chef, said that Coka-Cola smelled like nutmeg.
I smell nutmeg and cinnamon in Coke. No idea about the amount they use, though.
Neither William Poundstone’s Big Secrets nor Cunningham’s For God, Country, and Coca Cola list nutmeg among Coke’s major ingredients (although Poundstone admits it may be in there). Neither is the last word on the topic, but the flavoring bibles Poundstone quotes don’t even list nutmeg among the ingredients, IIRC. I’m very suspicious.
It wouldn’t be a major ingredient, unless I’m misunderstanding their use of that term.
The Coca Cola company had said in the past that their formula includes cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, lime juice and lavender in addition to the traditional items. I couldn’t find any numbers for the amount of nutmeg.
Hard to believe they consume 90% of the world’s supply.
My point is, if it’s not a major ingredient, I’d be surprised if they used 90% of the world’s supply. samclem seems to think so, too.
Well wikipedia puts the yearly production of nutmeg at 10,000-12,000 tonnes. How much nutmeg would be used in a litre of coke? Considering how much coke is produced worldwide, it wouldn’t surprise me is a fair percentage went into coke.
First figures I found… might be better ones out there…
Coca-cola beverage products consumed per day: 12.8 billion ounces (includes all Coca-Cola brands)
Nutmeg production per day: 30 metric tons
If we figure that half (???) of consumed Coke-branded products use nutmeg, you would need 51 mg of nutmeg per 12-oz can to use up 90% of the world’s nutmeg production. Adjust the “half” figure as you will…