Controversial component confounds Coca-Cola concoction

it will not make you hyper, though you may feel guilty

Erythroxylum coca’s illegal and hasn’t been used in its secret formula for years. Corn syrup has been demonized by the Orange Guy and has to be replaced with cane sugar. But what about gum arabic, which has nothing to do with Islamophobia? It’s a critical component to America’s most popular beverage, derived from the sap of acacia trees, and widely used as a stabiliser, thickener and binding agent. You’ll find it in everything from soft drinks to Nestlé pet food to L'Oréal lipsticks and M&Ms. But 80% of the world's gum arabic is harvested in Sudan, making it a key ingredient in food processing comparable to blood diamonds. These days the sap is increasingly being trafficked from rebel-held areas of the war-torn nation. So consuming Coca-Cola would - in effect - be funding some of the bad guys in Sudan’s increasingly bloody civil war. The rhetorical question is how can multinationals now disengage their supply chains from the devastating conflict? And what do you do the next time you seek the real thing or a pause that refreshes? Whether to order a frosty glass, or choose the guilt-free course, hold to the higher ethical ground and just say no.