Coca-Cola (Coke) have a section on their site called Myths & Rumors. This section is their valiant (but probably doomed) attempt to head off persistent urbal legends about their products.
I found the exact wording of their answer a tad curious, they say their soft drink products don’t contain “ingredients derived from mammals or poultry” rather than excluding ingredients derived from animal products generally.
This begs the question: do Coca Cola soft drink products contain ingredients derived from fish? From reptiles? From insects (ugh)?
Considering the fact that most (if not all) of Coca-Cola’s products are kosher, there aren’t any insect or reptile parts in there. There could be fish and still be kosher, but I highly doubt it.
Well, if I’m not mistaken, FDA guidelines permit a certain minute amount of debris to make its way into the production process - including things like insect parts. No one wants that to happen, of course, but it’s certainly possible. Coca-Cola would know that, so perhaps they’re trying to avoid a potential lawsuit by not including ALL animals on the list. Just a guess.
As an aside, I worked for Coca-Cola on a contract several years ago. I happened to tour their production facilities and found them immaculate.
[quote]
[ul][li]“All our soft drinks are wholesome beverages …”“Unfortunately, the incredible power of the Internet is sometimes used to spread false information about our products.” [/ul][/li][/quote]
No doubt.
There will always be a few bug parts in ingredients made from or with plants. (There’s the rumor that still some real condiments are used! ;)) If they made some reasonable effort to avoid bug parts in their products, “no animals” wouldn’t be a lie even to a vegan. It might be to exclude something like carmine in campari, even though they only refer to soft drinks. I hope it’s just bad wording. At other places Coke has been specified as suitable for vegetarians, so you can think this implies ‘no reptiles or insects’. Still I would feel better if they were a bit more explicit about it. Coke once did contain tallow-derived glycerin, but not any longer.
“Mammals or poultry” is only to distract you from “ingredients”.
What about the things used in the process of making the ingredients? You don’t have to declare a used substance if it doesn’t leave detectable traces in the finished product, because it isn’t a true ingredient then. If they said “no animals” there, they still would be quite safe from lawsuits, because it would refer only to ‘ingredients derived from’ and doesn’t even touch this:
The sweetener used in (non light) Coca Cola is corn syrup, beet sugar, or cane sugar. It’s unlikely in most parts of the world, but you can’t be 100% sure that the sugar in your Coke (or for that matter any other sugar just labeled ‘sugar’) isn’t cane sugar filtered through charcoal made from animal bones. There supposedly wouldn’t be any traces of bones in the sugar, but it isn’t necessary and you just don’t want it as a vegetarian.
And what about the water… fishes f*ck in there! Even though I am concerned about these things, I think there are other products that need worrying about more and first.
Coke is considered kosher because the Coke people actually try and help, but at least for passover you still have to make sure to get a Coke with beet or cane sugar and not an old one with corn syrup.
Why is the caramel coloring derived from corn syrup okay?
There will always be rumors, doubt, and false information until they spread the true information. You only know if something is false information after they have taken the trouble to deny it.
The ingredients in Coca Cola are given in William Poundstone’s Big Secrets and in For God, Country, and Coca Cola. The authors of each book describe how they came by or derived the formulations, but they seem probable, especially given that generic “cola” recipes are available in flavoring recipe books. In neither book does the recipe contain any of the unsavory elements you fear – it’s all vegetable matter.
I was not expecting some sinister plot to surreptitiously sneak alligator appendices into Coke. It was just that their odd website wording piqued my curiosity.
However their e-mail answer provides a full explanation and I am willing to trust them on this.
I would not, however, accept an explanation based on the fact that generic cola recipes look harmless.
Even though I am concerned about these things, I think there are other products that need worrying about more and first.