Si narra che la ricetta della Coca Cola sia nascosta in nel caveau di una banca e che solo due persone al mondo la conoscono.

Queste misure di segretezza degne di un film di 007 non sono bastate a proteggere la formula della bevanda più amata al mondo. La formula segreta però è stata trovata tra le pagine di un vecchio libro mastro. Il destino delle bollicine è in pericolo? Leggete questo articolo in inglese e scoprite come ha reagito l’azienda.

Has Coca-Cola’s secret recipe been cracked?
By Katie Leslie
(The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 15/02/2011)

Move over, WikiLeaks. A nationally syndicated public radio show claims to have released one of America’s most closely guarded secrets — the recipe for Coca-Cola — and it’s causing an international frenzy.

“This American Life” found the list of ingredients deep within the archives of The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, in a 1979 column by Charles Salter. The radio segment aired on various public radio stations over the weekend.

By Tuesday, story had gone viral on the Internet and on Twitter; the radio show’s website buckled for the first time ever under the weight of unprecedented traffic; the story had appeared in languages ranging from Portuguese to Arabic; and reporters and executives for “This American Life” and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution were getting media requests from around the world.

“I think other people are having the same reaction to this when I had when I first saw this article in the AJC. This supposedly secret recipe has been hiding in plain sight for 30 years,” This American Life “host Ira Glass said Tuesday. “I think we all know Coca-Cola. We all have heard about the incredible secrecy. But no no, it’s not a secret. It’s been sitting out there for years.”

Indeed, the Coca-Cola Company has for decades cultivated a mystique surrounding its trademark formula, even calling it by the cloak-and-dagger name “Merchandise 7x.” The actual recipe is claimed to be kept under lock and key in a bank vault accessible by only two Coca-Cola employees.

Beverage industry analyst John Sicher wasn’t surprised by the buzz surrounding the story. He says anyone can replicate Coca-Cola, but not its brand.

“Today, anybody with access to a sophisticated chemistry laboratory could analyze the formula of Coke, but no one can call a product called Coke other than the Coca-Cola Company,” said Sicher, editor and publisher of “Beverage Digest.” “The so-called ‘secret formula’ is a wonderful story of lore and mystery, but in reality, the value today is the brand, not the formula.”

The urban myth-busing website Snopes.com classifies much of the lore as no more than clever marketing. Coca-Cola has used tales of Cold War-worthy secrecy measures, Snopes.com says, “to enhance consumer perception of Coca-Cola’s specialness … the belief that anything so closely guarded must be special indeed.”

Glass stumbled upon the recipe while reviewing Salter’s “Georgia Rambler” columns. The ingredients include coca — of course — as well as coriander, caramel, neroli oil and cinnamon. (The list also includes alcohol, a component that Coca-Cola says has long been absent from the mix.)

Salter, who is related to a “This American Life” producer, retired in 1998 but remains in Atlanta. He said he got the recipe from former fishing buddy, pharmacist Everett Beal, in 1979.  Beal had found the recipe years earlier, written in a more than century-old hand-written ledger, Salter said.

Vocabolario

• Move over: Fatti in là.
• Frenzy: frenesia.
• Deep: in profondità.
• Story had gone viral: la storia si è diffusa in modo virale.
• In plain sight: in bella vista.
• Cloak-and-dagger name: un nome d’avventura, di cappa e spada.
• Buzz: mormorio, chiacchericcio.
• So-called: cosiddetto, così chiamato.
• Cold War-worthy: degno delle Guerra Fredda.
• Stumbled upon: si è imbattuto.
• Ledger: libro maestro.