It has been one of the most guarded commercial secrets for more than a century, but a US radio station reckons it may have uncovered the ingredients that make Coca-Cola the real thing.
And one of those ingredients, according to the Chicago-based public radio programme This American Life, is alcohol.
Officials in the UAE dismissed the suggestion yesterday, saying that rumours had been around a long time and had been proved false by scientific analysis.
The crucial ingredient of Coke has been a mixture known only as "7X". John Pemberton, a medicinal chemist who devised the formula in 1886, refused to divulge the make-up of 7X and the recipe is locked in a bank vault in Atlanta. Only two senior Coca-Cola employees know the ingredients at any one time.
But, according to the radio programme, a colleague of Pemberton's did write down the formula and a photograph of his notes was published, without fanfare, on page 28 of the Atlanta Constitution-Journal 32 years ago.
According to this recipe, 7X, described on a can of Coke as "natural flavourings including caffeine", consist of alcohol and the oils of orange, lemon, nutmeg, coriander and neroli (produced from Bitter Orange blossoms).
Mark Pendergrast, who has written a history of the drink, told the popular radio show: "I think that it certainly is a version of the formula. The company has always said that at any given time only two people know how to mix the 7X flavouring ingredient. Those two people never travel on the same plane in case it crashes."
However, Khalid Mohammed Shareef, the director of the food control department at Dubai Municipality, rejected the possibility of alcohol in Coke.
"We've got good connections with all the labs all over the world, and we couldn't find any single thing to show us there is alcohol," he said. "I am 100 per cent sure because we did all the tests."
Coca-Cola has fought a string of legal challenges to force it to reveal its formula and, in 1977, it pulled out of India rather than divulge the contents. The only comments it has made in recent years on the secret recipe have been to confirm the drink originally included cocaine, which was removed in the early 1900s.
Last night, Coca-Cola confirmed all its soft drink products were non-alcoholic beverages and did not contain any meat.
"The ingredients used in our beverages are listed on the product labels and many third parties have tried over time to crack the secret formula of Coca-Cola," a spokeswoman said. "Try as they might to crack that formula, there truly is only one 'real thing'."
Coca-Cola will celebrate its 125th anniversary this year.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
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Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
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Investment: $5.2 million
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Rating: 1/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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