I just finished reading what I first thought was a funny article in The Guardian. It's called Things grow better with Coke, and it explains how farmers in India, fed up with paying high prices for commercially-available pesticides, have begun spraying Coca-Cola on their crops to get rid of bugs.
The scientific community has yet to take time out from more pressing concerns - like, say, finding a cure for cancer or inventing an age-reducing cream that works - to investigate this vexing capability.
It gives me pause to think that if it's strong enough to kill bugs and we don't know how it accomplishes that, why do we wash it down our gullets with barely a second thought? Have we ever stopped to think what guzzling gallons of pop (sorry, it's an Ontario thing...I know the rest of you call 'em soft drinks or boissons gazeuses or something similarly local) to the exclusion of other, real drinks is doing to our bodies?
I have. But that's only because I've got a mind that churns through trivial matters as voraciously as a dog chews on its owner's sneakers.
If all of this isn't weird enough, India's Centre for Science and Environment last year discovered Coke and Pepsi were selling soft drinks laced with pesticide. How bad? Some 30 to 40 times the permissible EU guidelines. The story is here. Maybe it's a serendipitous way for the bugs to get back at us.
I'll be sticking to water, milk, and juice, thank you; though not at the same time. What are you drinking now? And why are you drinking that particular drink instead of somethiing else. I'd like to say enquiring minds want to know, but that catch phrase has apparently already been usurped by a publisher whose name I can't quite recall.
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13 comments:
Water, milk, orange juice, and tea are my drinks of choice. Water is my "default" drink all day, everyday. Milk is for meals. I drink a large glass of orange juice every morning to start my day. Tea is for the times I want to relax and sip on something, or the times when I want something hot.
Though I don't drink it often, I have to admit that I sometimes give in and drink pop (it's a Michigan term too) when I eat certain foods, like pizza or hot dogs or something. I'm convinced that pop is responsible for the American weight problem. Reducting carbs is no good if you're still washing it down with a 2 litre of Coke, people!
I drink so much Diet Coke that I'm sure that no bugs would live if they tried to invade my body. (Boy, I sure hope that never happens!)
I grew up in Texas and we call everything "Coke." Here's how the conversation would work:
You: I'm going to get a Coke - Do you want one?
Me: Sure!
You: What kind?
Me: Dr. Pepper
It doesn't matter what flavor or brand it is - it's always a Coke.
What's interesting is that I now live in Atlanta, (World headquarters for Coca Cola) and everyone says "Soda."
Another interesting tidbit is how used to Coca Cola products I have become living in the land of Coca Cola. If I venture to a land where they only have Pepsi, it really makes me uncomfortable!
Finally, here are some other uses for Coca Cola: If the post on your car battery get corroded, pour Coca Cola on them and it will eat away the corrosion. Also, it is rumored that those who clean up big traffic accidents with lots of blood, use Coca Cola to to clean up said blood with.
Interesting, huh?
gotta be beer for me. i figure if somethings gonna kill me slowly, it might as well be enjoyable. I stopped drinking caffienated pops when I quit smoking those years ago, so water, coffee and beer are my drinks of choice. I'll have OJ, but only from Mars diner (when I'm in Toronto).
haha, that reminds of a stupid science experiment I did at home with my mom when I was in about 6th grade... it was then that I learned how highly acidic coke is - you shoulda seen what it did to that poor penny...
I just grabbed a coke. Thanks for the inspiration.
I received this list in email once and always found it to be very interesting:
http://wws.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$790
I know someone who used Coke to clean his driveway... ugh
Rachel from Rachelland.blog-city.com writes:
OK, Carmi, Snopes.com said that the stories about Coke and it being corrosive are an urban legend.
Personally, I like my diet iced tea, water, coffee, tea, and vodka martinis (with three olives, of course). Anything else is just too dangerous.
Love your site; thanks for visiting mine!
Rachel
I think it is mildly corrosive. It is a very weak acid. It's the phosphoric acid in it.
I made pancakes with it recently. As you may know, baking powder is baking soda with cream of tartar, which is something that releases acid when heated, so that the baking powder turns to gas only when it is hot.
Well, the phosphoric acid in the cola turned the baking soda into fluffy bubbles as soon as I poured it in, and my pancakes were flat. As flat pancakes.
I do believe that phosphoric acid has a particular affinity for some compounds, like copper oxide. This may be where the legend of Coke being corrosive came from.
Oh, and it would have to go a long way before it was as corrosive as the acid in your stomach.
I am drinking coffee. But it is Saturday morning. And I am cold. And tired. So that's why.
What an amazingly diverse group of people you are. And all from a little ditty about what we drink. I am SO impressed, and humbled that you all shared these neato thoughts on my blog. Please keep 'em coming.
I once read that highway patrol officers carry liters of Coke in their trunks, to wash blood, etc. off the highway after an accident. It might be an urban legend, but it sounds about right.
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