Did Coca Cola ever contain traces of cocaine? Does is still contain very small traces of cocaine?
It did contain cocaine but not anymore. Kola nuts (which is what are used, not leaves) don’t contain any cocaine btw, which only occurs naturally in the Coca plant and of that plant, only seventeen species have enough cocaine to be viable as a source for the drug. Kola contains caffeine, theobromine, tannins, phenolics, kolatin, and kolanin, and is still used in Coca Cola.
The beverage was named Coca-Cola because, originally, the stimulant mixed in the beverage was coca leaves from South America, which the drug cocaine is derived from. In addition, the drink was flavored using kola nuts, also acting as the beverage’s source of caffeine.[14] Pemberton called for five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup, a significant dose, whereas, in 1891, Candler claimed his formula (altered extensively from Pemberton’s original) contained only a tenth of this amount.
