HISTORY

Sold in more than 200 countries, this cool refreshing and satisfying carbonated drink is dominating the globe. Coca Cola began inteded as a patent medicine, but soon was brought out by businessman Asa Griggs Chandler, who marketed it into a soft drink.

Coca Cola continued to grow, as it branched out into different varioations of the drink, such as Diet Coke, Coca Coca Zero, Caffeine Free Coke, Coca Cola Cherry, Coca Cola Vanilla, Coca Cola Lemon, Coca Cola Lime, and even Coca Cola Coffee. Through the usage of various flavors and options, the soft drink began to appear more appealing to those consumers who seeked a different taste. On most occassions, the average consumer is satisfied with the original taste of the soft drink.

Coca Cola, unlike many other companies, likes to listen to what their customers ask for. Recently, consumers have asked for a more natural product. In result, Coca Cola is searching for a way to phase out an ingredient called E211, or sodium benzoate, the controversal addictive that is used in Diet Coke and linked to DNA damage in yeast cells and hyperactivity in children. Coca Cola plans to remove the product from their drinks as soon as an alternative is found in replacement of it.

The rumor of Coca Cola containing the drug cocaine is no myth. This soft drink did, in fact, once contain the drug. When the soft drink first came out, the two key ingredients were cocaine (benzoylmethyl ecgonine) and caffeine. The cocaine is derived from a kola nut, leading to the main reason why the product was Coca-Cola. For marketing purposes, the "k" in the word "kola" was changed to a "c". After all, what sensible person would buy a product named after a drug? The cocaine was estimated at nine miligrams per glass, and thus the product was removed from the ingredients. On the upside for those who enjoyed the drug, the soft drink still contains the flavor of cocaine.

Today, Coca Cola is one of the most successful and popular soft drinks throughtout the world.