[lbo-talk] Indian thirst for "Real Thing" formula

[Carl Remick]

[Why Indians are keen for glop like Coke when a local alternative like lassi 
(perhaps even bhang lassi) is available ranks as one of the Great Mysteries 
of the East.  BTW, according the the always-authoritative Wikipedia, the 
"secrecy" of Coke's formula is a publicity stunt; Wikipedia offers the 
recipe (or rather three versions of it) here:  
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_formula>  Also BTW, it seems odd 
that the Times byline below uses "Bombay" instead of "Mumbai."  One of the 
Great Mysteries of Rupert Murdoch, I guess.]

Coke and Pepsi told to spill secrets or face ban


>From Ashling O'Connor in Bombay
The Times
August 05, 2006

INDIA’S highest court yesterday demanded that Coca-Cola should reveal its 
secret formula for the first time in 120 years.

The Supreme Court ordered the US soft drinks maker, along with its rival 
PepsiCo, to supply details of the chemical composition and ingredients of 
their products after a study released this week claimed that they contained 
unacceptable levels of insecticides.

Justice S. B. Sinha and Justice Dalveer Bhandari directed the companies to 
file their replies within four weeks, the Press Trust of India reported. “If 
they don’t comply, then the court has the authority to suspend sales,” 
Shreyas Patel, a lawyer at Fox Mandal Little, India’s oldest law firm, said. 
“But no one is going to give away a 120-year-old secret, especially in a 
country like India. Someone would go and make it themselves.”

Coca-Cola’s original recipe, according to company policy, is kept in a bank 
vault in Atlanta where only two executives — banned from travelling on the 
same aircraft — know it. ...

It is not the first time Coca-Cola and Pepsi have found themselves mired in 
controversy in India. They are regular whipping boys for politicians who 
regard Western food products as a threat to Indian heritage, although 
sceptics suggest that their opposition has more to do with the companies’ 
virtual monopoly of the market than genuinely held feelings of cultural 
protectionism. ...

<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2299363,00.html>

Carl