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Drink Up! Some Facts About Coca-Cola
contributed by Ayman Abdelgawad, expanded
by Wael Abdelgawad
Almost everybody loves cola, right? As I'm writing this we are in the sacred month of Ramadhan, and if your masjid is like most others, that brown bubbly stuff is served right along with Iftar every evening. We keep on drinking it all year long, from cans, bottles and soda fountains by the gallon. But what do we really know about this mysterious sweet liquid, aside from the fact that it tastes good and makes your burp? I'd like to present you with a few very interesting facts about coke which may make you think twice the next time you feel like wetting your palate.
Cola was first invented in the late 1880s by Dr. John Styth Pemberton, a pharmacist, in a three legged brass pot. At first it contained cocaine, which was legal at the time (hence the name "Coca"-Cola.) When cocaine became illegal it was replaced with caffeine, which had a similar effect of stimulating the body and creating an addiction. By 1895 it was consumed in every state and territory in the United States. Today, it can be found in 195 countries, and is consumed more than 773,000,000 times a day around the world (and that's not even counting other brands such as Pepsi, RC Cola, and Shasta).
SOME COCA-COLA FACTS AND USES:
1. Colas contains citric acid and are therefore very corrosive. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the truck to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
2. You can put a t-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.
3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl. Let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean.
4. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.
5. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: rub the bumper with a crumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
6. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
7. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
8. To bake a moist piece of meat: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan; wrap the meat in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the meat is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
9. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, And run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.
10. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It's pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days.
11. To carry Coca Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous material place cards reserved for Highly Corrosive materials.
12. The distributors of coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!
So that's what you're putting on your teeth and in your mouth: a substance so acidic and corrosive it can dissolve blood, steaks, china stains, rust, grease and even iron. If that doesn't bother you, then drink up! And make sure you have a good dentist, because you'll need one.