Is it true there used to be cocaine in Coca-Cola?

Indeed, a certain stimulant was present in the soft drink back in 1886, according to the Soda Museum, but probably in mild amounts. Coca-Cola was named after its two key ingredients -- coca leaves and kola nuts.

Coca leaves contain small amounts of cocaine, and people in the Andean region of South America have a long tradition of chewing them for their effects as a mild stimulant, appetite suppressant, and altitude sickness remedy. To make cocaine powder, a much stronger stimulant, coca leaves undergo elaborate processing that involves washes by kerosene and several chemicals.

Coca-Cola used syrup from the coca leaves that probably introduced trace amounts of the active substance into the drink. But concern about cocaine addiction grew in the early 20th century, and in the United States, the Harrison Act of 1914 banned the use of the drug in non-prescription products.

When technology improved enough to make it possible, Coca-Cola started using "spent" coca leaves, which go through a cocaine extraction process, rather than fresh leaves, for flavor. It gives a whole new meaning to "I'd like to buy the world a Coke," doesn't it?

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