Having solved all other problems affecting Bolivia, a commission of coca farmers advising the assembly in charge of re-writing Bolivia’s constitution is asking the Coca Cola company to drop the word coca from its world-famous products. I would settle for an acknowledgement that coca is one of the ingredients of the popular soft drink, but then again I’m not as ambitious as these fellows.
March 20 Addendum: I finally found a New York Times article I remember reading a few years ago. The article is called New Peruvian Soft Drink Packs a Punch. It discusses the use of coca by Peruvian soft drink companies but, more importantly, mentions that the Coca-Cola company buys a cocaine free extract from the Stepan Company, one of the few American companies legally allowed to handle coca in the US.
So there you have it. Even though Coca-Cola will not acknowledge it officially, it seems clear to me that coca is an ingredient of the most popular soft drink in the world.
P.S. In case anyone has doubts about the accuracy of the NY Times, the Stepan Company is officially registered by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a cocaine manufacturer and also as an importer of coca leaves. Other companies that are or were allowed to import coca leaves include Mallinckrodt, Inc. and Penick Corporation.
[...] – Bolivia Web Blog [...]
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[...] However, a lot from this recommendation stems from a perceived hypocrisy in that it has long been rumored that the popular soft drink has or had used coca as an ingredient. Meanwhile, the coca leaf has been listed as a banned product for quite some time. Carlos Gustavo Machicado Salas of Guccio’s [ES] thinks that such a request is a reach, but does not see the harm in asking the company to identify their ingredients to see whether they actually do use coca in their product. The blog from the web portal, Bolivia Web, also thinks there are better and more pressing topics that these commissions should attend to, but also writes that the cola company should acknowledge whether coca is an ingredient in their cola. [...]
I included your entry in the latest Global Voices Online Bolivian blog article.
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/03/19/bolivia-taking-the-coca-out-of-coca-cola-and-onto-the-seal/
Have you seen VBS TV Producer Trace Crutchfield searching for Evo Morales in Bolivia? Pretty good stuff. Lots of talk of the coca cola company
“Bolivian Marching Powder” at http://www.vbs.tv
[...] Coca Colla, a new soda made from the coca leaf, can now be purchased in Bolivia. I am still waiting for an official response from the The Coca Cola Company. Don’t forget to read a post I wrote a while ago which addresses whether coca leaves are part of the secret Coca Cola recipe. [...]