Is it an added ingredient or a by-product of the other ingredients? Why is it added? taste? stability? why is it not in sprit or rootbeer?
In: Chemistry
Originally coke had caffeine in it from the kola nut. This nut is used as a folk medicine remedy fro coughs. If nothing else the caffeine will make you feel less tired. The leaves of the plants are what contain cocaine, not the nuts. Although the cocaine was also used as a folk medicine and would make you less tired and feel better.
Coca cola was initially sold as a tonic to make you feel better if you were sick. The caffeine as well as the cocaine was the main active ingredients. But people figured out they could drink it when not being sick and they would still feel better. Coca cola were forced to remove the cocaine and reduce the caffeine but still retain some. Caffeine does make you feel better and less tired in addition to being addictive. So they added as much as they could get away with at the time.
Currently however the limits for how much caffeine the authorities lets people get away with putting in soft drinks is much higher. The energy drink craze have resulted in cola of other brands with significantly more caffeine then coca cola or pepsi.
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