> coca-leaf which comes from South America and is processed in a unique US government authorized factory in New Jersey to remove its addictive stimulant cocaine
According to Wikipedia "The Stepan Company is the only manufacturing plant authorized by the Federal Government to import and process the coca plant, which it obtains mainly from Peru and, to a lesser extent, Bolivia. Besides producing the coca flavoring agent for Coca-Cola, the Stepan Company extracts cocaine from the coca leaves, which it sells to Mallinckrodt, a St. Louis, Missouri, pharmaceutical manufacturer that is the only company in the United States licensed to purify cocaine for medicinal use."
I looked that up because I don't work in health care:
"Cocaine Hydrochloride is used topically to produce local anesthesia of accessible mucous membranes of oral, laryngeal, and nasal cavities. It is often used for emergency room sutures and outpatient nasal and facial surgery.
Because Cocaine Hydrochloride is readily absorbed from mucous membranes and can cause severe adverse effects, the drug should be used with caution, and careful attention should be given to dosage and administration technique.
Repeated topical application of cocaine can result in psychic dependence and tolerance."
Does this mean I cannot open my own company to process coca-leafs? Can I sue the government due to monopoly practices? Why this factory is any better than any citizen wanting to open coca-leaf processing plant??
It would be interesting to see how the cocaine supply line works. I imagine they'd need armored vehicles and a lot of security for the entire trip from NJ to MO.
I wish Coca Cola would make a acid free version of coke. The Phosphoric Acid adds a slight tang to the drink, but in exchange absolutely destroys your teeth over years of consumption.
For regular drinkers like myself I'd happily pay a small premium to buy the "acid free" version of the drink. The sugar still does damage but with both the acid AND sugar it is like a double whammy of "badness" (acid which destroys your teeth's natural protective coating, and sugar to feed the bacteria which actually eat away at your teeth).
No amount of brushing can really undo the amount of damage acidic soda does to your teeth, trust me I know! Even with prescription toothpaste with fluoride 5x times stronger than normal (5000 ppm toothpaste Vs. 1100 ppm) you're only slowing down the progression.
The problem is, the acid is a vital component of the flavor. Try mixing water with sugar to see what I mean...it is sweet, but it's not particualy good. To make it taste better, the best approach is to add some acid (lemon juice naturally gets you lemonade, but other edible acids would get you a similar effect.) Even fruit juice follows this basic flavor formula (most fruits are acidic, though watermelons are basic)
I have a friend with pretty big health problems (gout and other problems).
I don't know if it is because of gout or any other disease, but he says he shouldn't drink acidic drinks. He cut Coca Cola and is drinking now Red Bull Cola.
There isn't any scientific evidence that soda's acid rots teeth. Sugar, yes, but not the acid. It turns out that the acid is too low and not exposed to your teeth long enough to cause any damage. Sugars do stick, however, feeding bacteria and causing rot.
Of course you realize that if there wasn't any Phosphoric Acid in the drink, you would vomit due to the intolerably high concentration of sugar. The acid is fooling your body into drinking the stuff and besides damaging your teeth depletes calcium ions.
The article waxes so eloquently about this beloved product that I would have mistaken it for a paid PR piece. The article is great read nonetheless.
For those who are also interested in the other darker, grimier side of the same coin, might want to check out its use of mercenaries for union busting in South America(by murder of course. In the hands of the right spinners that would be 'terrorism'), similar stuff happened in India as well.
The union-busting incident, while dark, seems to be an isolated incident.
If you saw the kinds of gangsters that become union leaders in South America these days, you'd at least consider using mercenaries.
The local Coca Cola union head here in Uruguay is not a man to be trifled with (Richard Read), he has gotten them incredible benefits (it pays better than programming over here :P ).
And the guys in Argentina are legitimate thugs and crooks (well, so is the government :P )
Edit: a side effect of such union power is that Uruguay has the most expensive Coca-Cola in the world, a 2 liter bottle costs 3.5 dollars after taxes (so almost twice what it costs in the U.S.)
You could say this about any product. I think the essay would be considerably longer if it concerned a typical PC or phone, not to mention a car.
I also think the essay can be written with cynicism instead of wonder, e.g. with an anti-capitalist slant. With one innocuous affordable purchase you can deforest and pollute four continents whilst giving yourself diabetes and dental caries!!!
> The number of individuals who know how to make a can of Coke is zero.
This reminds me a fact I remember time to time. If civilization collapses after, say, a world war, I most probably can't make a pot, can't grow plants, can't differentiate if one is edible or not, can't dig for petrol, can't make plastic (or even glass), can't reinvent concrete, can't make gunpowder etc., you get the point.
I can only write software and maybe drill with tools and nail with a hammer but that's all.
> The top of the can is then added. This is carefully engineered: it is made from aluminum, but it has to be thicker and stronger to withstand the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas, and so it uses an alloy with more magnesium than the rest of the can.
Nope, the pressure from the carbon dioxide pushes equally against all sides of the can. If anything the pressure at the top is slightly lower than at the bottom, at least if the can is standing, because of the weight of the coke pushing against the bottom.
The pressure difference is trivial. The reason it has to be thicker is because the top is flatter than the sides (convex) and bottom (concave). If the top was domed up it could be thinner. Have you ever seen an overheated or frozen can? The top is usually bulging while the rest is still intact.
I'm surprised that the author hasn't mentioned the use of toxins (pesticides)[1], to the extent that it is even being used as a real pesticide in various parts of India.
I know some may find this offensive, but sorry, I think I have a moral responsibility myself to let the people around me know of the harms caused by this carcinogen[1].
> ... the inside of the can is painted too — with a complex chemical called a comestible polymeric coating that prevents any of the aluminum getting into the soda.
I though this was very interesting, so I did a little digging... There is remarkably little information on these 'comestible polymeric coatings', but I was able to find (see below) a reason as to why that is. Apparently these coatings are propriety to the manufacturer and there are competing companies who are constantly in a race to find the best coating.
It's supremely interesting the fact that drinking a can of coke is almost a magic trick right in front of your eyes. It'd be like someone holding a lighter straight to a piece of paper and everyone being baffled as to why it isn't lighting on fire. Yet when someone drinks a coke no one bats an eye as to how it isn't mixing with the metal salts and eating straight through the aluminum can.
"Interior can coatings designed to prevent migration of metal salts into the contained product are called "comestible polymeric coatings". The coatings ars polymers typically used in coil coating. The exact nature of the coatings isn't available since most are proprietary to manufacturers who continuously look for better coatings."
This is good, although I think it reaches just a little too far when it says that the number of nations that could produce a can of coke is zero. If the US so desired it could grow coca leaves, and kola nuts, and use locally produced aluminum, etc.
Of course if you could break it down further into smaller parts and tools to manufacture those parts, you'd get an even greater variety of countries and companies.
> Modern tool chains are so long and complex that they bind us into one people and one planet.
When we think about colonizing the Moon or Mars with small groups of people with the intention of making the colonies self-sustaining over time, deep, long-evolved tool chains like the one described in the article could be very difficult to scale down and to replicate in other environments.
Not necessarily. The only reason why this toolchain is global is that the bauxite is cheapest in Australia. If you mined bauxite in US, you would have a very local operation. In the case of Moon or Mars, I'm sure they would find it much easier to mine on the planets surface (especially since it doesn't harm the earth's environment that way).
They'd never be truly self-sustaining - that's borderline impossible if you want any kind of quality and growth. There will always be a supply line from Earth and other colonies.
"The top of the can is then added. This is carefully engineered: it is made from aluminum, but it has to be thicker and stronger to withstand the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas, and so it uses an alloy with more magnesium than the rest of the can"
Yes, but the pressure is the same on all parts of the can. Ok, almost the same, still.
Maybe because of the parts that have been cut to make it easy to open?
Speaking as somebody who's never even smoked a cigarette or a joint: are there people who tried to recreate the "original" coke recipe? The one with "unprocessed" coca leaves? Is it available on say the latest instance of Silk Road? What is it like?
The book on the history of coke says that when cocaine was removed old timers would stir some in. However it has no real effect, as ingesting cocaine is not particularly effective except in the presence of alcohol. (The original French recipe that Coke was borrowed form had red wine in).
I bet it would be pretty mild - like a cup of ephedrine tea (banned for a while now, how stupid). Cocaine, even in its pure form, is not that much of a stimulant and it has a short half-life - methamphetamine or even amphetamine would be much better choices. Or just grab some phenylethylamine while it's still legal.
Not that I want to waste any time on a HPLC-MS machine on this, but I was distinctly under the impression Coca-Cola 7X does not actually contain kola nut?
I've had Red Bull Cola, and actually found it quite different, but delicious. No accounting for taste, though.
[+] [-] d0mdo0ss|11 years ago|reply
According to Wikipedia "The Stepan Company is the only manufacturing plant authorized by the Federal Government to import and process the coca plant, which it obtains mainly from Peru and, to a lesser extent, Bolivia. Besides producing the coca flavoring agent for Coca-Cola, the Stepan Company extracts cocaine from the coca leaves, which it sells to Mallinckrodt, a St. Louis, Missouri, pharmaceutical manufacturer that is the only company in the United States licensed to purify cocaine for medicinal use."
[+] [-] themodelplumber|11 years ago|reply
"We purchase a crude extract and purify it further into one chemical form, cocaine hydrochloride U.S.P."
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/01/business/how-coca-cola-obt...
I looked that up because I don't work in health care:
"Cocaine Hydrochloride is used topically to produce local anesthesia of accessible mucous membranes of oral, laryngeal, and nasal cavities. It is often used for emergency room sutures and outpatient nasal and facial surgery.
Because Cocaine Hydrochloride is readily absorbed from mucous membranes and can cause severe adverse effects, the drug should be used with caution, and careful attention should be given to dosage and administration technique.
Repeated topical application of cocaine can result in psychic dependence and tolerance."
http://mallinckrodt.com/uploadedFiles/Content/Specialty_Phar...
[+] [-] joering2|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nostromo|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] themodelplumber|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] Someone1234|11 years ago|reply
For regular drinkers like myself I'd happily pay a small premium to buy the "acid free" version of the drink. The sugar still does damage but with both the acid AND sugar it is like a double whammy of "badness" (acid which destroys your teeth's natural protective coating, and sugar to feed the bacteria which actually eat away at your teeth).
No amount of brushing can really undo the amount of damage acidic soda does to your teeth, trust me I know! Even with prescription toothpaste with fluoride 5x times stronger than normal (5000 ppm toothpaste Vs. 1100 ppm) you're only slowing down the progression.
[+] [-] FreakyT|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bjelkeman-again|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lpgauth|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] UrMomReadsHN|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dragonwriter|11 years ago|reply
Good luck with an acid-free version of a carbonated beverage.
[+] [-] brusch|11 years ago|reply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_Cola
I don't like Red Bull Cola and think it is a pretty poor substitute - but he enjoys it.
[+] [-] jmadsen|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] constableb|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] judk|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] frontline|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orbifold|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] a8da6b0c91d|11 years ago|reply
If your teeth are failing to heal up from a couple cokes a day the problem is serious vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
[+] [-] jstalin|11 years ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%2C_Pencil
[+] [-] forrestthewoods|11 years ago|reply
A similar ppiece was written in the context software, Dizzying but Invisible Depth. https://plus.google.com/+JeanBaptisteQueru/posts/dfydM2Cnepe
[+] [-] ad_hominem|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 27182818284|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joshdance|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] srean|11 years ago|reply
For those who are also interested in the other darker, grimier side of the same coin, might want to check out its use of mercenaries for union busting in South America(by murder of course. In the hands of the right spinners that would be 'terrorism'), similar stuff happened in India as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Coca-Cola#Bottling...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Coca-Cola#Environm...
[+] [-] GFischer|11 years ago|reply
If you saw the kinds of gangsters that become union leaders in South America these days, you'd at least consider using mercenaries.
The local Coca Cola union head here in Uruguay is not a man to be trifled with (Richard Read), he has gotten them incredible benefits (it pays better than programming over here :P ).
And the guys in Argentina are legitimate thugs and crooks (well, so is the government :P )
See for example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Moyano
Edit: a side effect of such union power is that Uruguay has the most expensive Coca-Cola in the world, a 2 liter bottle costs 3.5 dollars after taxes (so almost twice what it costs in the U.S.)
[+] [-] klinquist|11 years ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCola_(drink)
[+] [-] nemof|11 years ago|reply
http://www.cube-cola.org/
[+] [-] MrJagil|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rafamvc|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Theodores|11 years ago|reply
I also think the essay can be written with cynicism instead of wonder, e.g. with an anti-capitalist slant. With one innocuous affordable purchase you can deforest and pollute four continents whilst giving yourself diabetes and dental caries!!!
[+] [-] gokhan|11 years ago|reply
This reminds me a fact I remember time to time. If civilization collapses after, say, a world war, I most probably can't make a pot, can't grow plants, can't differentiate if one is edible or not, can't dig for petrol, can't make plastic (or even glass), can't reinvent concrete, can't make gunpowder etc., you get the point.
I can only write software and maybe drill with tools and nail with a hammer but that's all.
[+] [-] bjornsing|11 years ago|reply
Nope, the pressure from the carbon dioxide pushes equally against all sides of the can. If anything the pressure at the top is slightly lower than at the bottom, at least if the can is standing, because of the weight of the coke pushing against the bottom.
[+] [-] jonah|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] neya|11 years ago|reply
I know some may find this offensive, but sorry, I think I have a moral responsibility myself to let the people around me know of the harms caused by this carcinogen[1].
Cheers.
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Coca-Cola#Pesticid...
[+] [-] JacobAldridge|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vesche|11 years ago|reply
I though this was very interesting, so I did a little digging... There is remarkably little information on these 'comestible polymeric coatings', but I was able to find (see below) a reason as to why that is. Apparently these coatings are propriety to the manufacturer and there are competing companies who are constantly in a race to find the best coating.
It's supremely interesting the fact that drinking a can of coke is almost a magic trick right in front of your eyes. It'd be like someone holding a lighter straight to a piece of paper and everyone being baffled as to why it isn't lighting on fire. Yet when someone drinks a coke no one bats an eye as to how it isn't mixing with the metal salts and eating straight through the aluminum can.
"Interior can coatings designed to prevent migration of metal salts into the contained product are called "comestible polymeric coatings". The coatings ars polymers typically used in coil coating. The exact nature of the coatings isn't available since most are proprietary to manufacturers who continuously look for better coatings."
source: http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=258261
[+] [-] azatris|11 years ago|reply
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3633389
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2221586
[+] [-] InclinedPlane|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] makmanalp|11 years ago|reply
Of course if you could break it down further into smaller parts and tools to manufacture those parts, you'd get an even greater variety of countries and companies.
The center where I work actually does work slightly related to this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JC24CBVsdo
[+] [-] gburt|11 years ago|reply
[1] http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html
[+] [-] jeffbarr|11 years ago|reply
> Modern tool chains are so long and complex that they bind us into one people and one planet.
When we think about colonizing the Moon or Mars with small groups of people with the intention of making the colonies self-sustaining over time, deep, long-evolved tool chains like the one described in the article could be very difficult to scale down and to replicate in other environments.
[+] [-] pm90|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jotm|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] raverbashing|11 years ago|reply
Yes, but the pressure is the same on all parts of the can. Ok, almost the same, still.
Maybe because of the parts that have been cut to make it easy to open?
[+] [-] NotOscarWilde|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] justincormack|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jotm|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AlyssaRowan|11 years ago|reply
I've had Red Bull Cola, and actually found it quite different, but delicious. No accounting for taste, though.
[+] [-] lpolovets|11 years ago|reply