I checked Snopes, which has a long list of Coke rumors, but this wasn’t on it.
Here’s what I heard: Computer analysis has been able to break down “secret recipes” that heretofore were… well, secret. One can therefore buy a knockoff of an expensive perfume for 5 bucks at your local mini-mart. It seems these computer analysts turned their machines and expertisde to Coca-Cola. And found the “secret ingredient” that no one has been able to replicate all these years is… a derivative of tobacco ash.
Are they putting cigarette butts in my Coke?