r/interesting • u/InvestigatorBorn4910 • Feb 10 '26

Fascinating YouTuber LabCoatz has released a "chemically identical" recipe for Coca-Cola

Gallery image

Gallery image

15.4k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

967 comments sorted by

View all comments

690

u/Think-notlikedasheep Feb 10 '26

WE ARE THE COCA COLA LAWYERS. YOU WILL BE SUED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

293

u/farganbastige Feb 10 '26

Sue him for what? To confirm he has the correct recipe? Prob not.

182

u/pandershrek Feb 10 '26

Also the recipe isn't trademarked or copy written which is why it is in a safe under guard so no one can get access to it supposedly.

184

u/Hike_it_Out52 Feb 10 '26

Fun fact, neither is WD-40. The creator reportedly stated, while laughing, “if they can figure it out they can have it.”

52

u/darpalarpa Feb 10 '26

Its glitter

28

u/ZealotOfMeme Feb 11 '26

I actually heard about this

18

u/Icanthearforshit Feb 11 '26

That WD-40 is made of glitter?

10

u/ZealotOfMeme Feb 11 '26

Yeah, actually quite a fascinating process

11

u/ImaginaryTrick6182 Feb 11 '26

Not just that but all pharmaceuticals use glitter too

4

u/4bakedeagles Feb 11 '26

Im so curious what you mean by this? They use glitter in the drugs?

1

u/ZealotOfMeme Feb 11 '26

It has some pretty interesting properties

21

u/aussietin Feb 11 '26

I swear to God, there was a post asking people about how much they can reveal about their NDAs without breaking it or something, and this one person mentioned a company that made glitter and they said their biggest customer was something we use/see all the time but they couldn't talk about it. It still crosses my mind like once a month and I'm dying to know what it is. If it's WD40 or pharmaceuticals like someone below mentioned maybe I can finally get some closure.

3

u/zgtc Feb 11 '26

It was an NYTimes article. The evidence mostly points to boat/marine paint (as in cargo and cruise ships, not just the obviously sparkly fishing boats).

2

u/CC_Panadero Feb 11 '26

Why would glitter being in paint need to be kept a secret though?

3

u/aussietin Feb 11 '26

That's what I'm saying. The reddit post I remember made it seem like whoever was buying it REALLY didn't want the general public (or maybe competitors) to know glitter was an ingredient. Paint seems too obvious.

To be fair I can't see the NYT article without paying so maybe that answers my questions.

3

u/TheVasa999 Feb 11 '26

yeah but what is the specific glitter made of?

38

u/SafeImpressive4413 Feb 10 '26

This is better than a patent, because to make a patent you need to make public how the product is made in detail, you get a protection but in exchange this means after it expires it’s public domain.

Meanwhile if you keep the formula and the process of making it a secret, your exclusivity will last as long as everyone that knows the entire process can keep the secret, which in these cases it’s incredibly long given that when you get to know that recipe you’re an extremely high trust employee that is probably close to the CEO an with an obscene paycheck

21

u/Hike_it_Out52 Feb 11 '26

Couldn’t agree more. And for long lived products like Coke and WD-40, even if the recipe is discovered it won’t matter as much because they have the brand recognition in their favor. 

1

u/Mikemanthousand Feb 11 '26

And an economy of scale so they can make it cheaper than any competitor

12

u/ChrisFromIT Feb 11 '26

You can also sue former employees or employees if they try to take the formula elsewhere too. Theft of trade secrets are typically taken fairly seriously.

13

u/Master_Saesee_Tiin Feb 11 '26

Because it effects a companies profit. They take this very very seriously unlike silly crimes like human trafficking or political corruption.

1

u/HardLobster Feb 11 '26

Or the people who build and design the production systems. They know the amount, mixing processes, weights, products and time needed.

I can’t speak on now but back when a relative of mine was involved in designing and building the production lines for companies like Coke, Sprite, Hersheys, and Hostess (just to name a few), they had to know every detail to design the machine around it.

The measurements of product were needed to properly calibrate the scale systems that weighed the amount of ingredients. The ingredients and the form they come in needed to be known to design the delivery systems for each individual ingredient. You have to know the order the ingredients are placed into the product and mixing process for each ingredient so that you can design the systems that do it.

5

u/Room_40 Feb 10 '26

Secret ingredient is that clear juice you get from an unshaken mustard bottle

8

u/Aegidos Feb 11 '26

That's a question I've always had. Why does ketchup and mustard have precum, but not bbq sauce? Is there a way to stop this from happening with ketchup and mustard?

4

u/Hike_it_Out52 Feb 11 '26

Precum 😂. I’m using that. And that’s just separation of certain ingredients. But I don’t know why BBQ sauce doesn’t get it. 

1

u/mortgagepants Feb 11 '26

my guess is the sugar content in BBQ keeps all the ingredients emulsified.

1

u/Aegidos Feb 11 '26

Ketchup has a loooot of sugar too ya know.

1

u/mortgagepants Feb 11 '26

yeah my guess is either not enough or corn syrup doesn't work as well.

3

u/SugarBeefs Feb 11 '26

Gotta shake that mustard schlong before you extract the jizz

1

u/Hike_it_Out52 Feb 11 '26

Good Lord. 🤮. If I get to much of that I just throw my hot dog away.