Coca-Cola is a carbonated drink which comprises of a surprising amount of sugar (. In fact, so much so that a tooth left in a glass of Coca-Cola for a night will dissolve entirely, because the phosphoric acid in the Coca-Cola reacts with the calcium in the tooth, dissolving it. The sugar in the drink also reacts with the tooth, causing the tooth to produce more acid, which enforces the efforts of the phosphoric acid. Other ingredients include caffeine, phosphoric acid, caramel colour and carbonated water.

The Coca-Cola corporation is perhaps the biggest soft drink company in the world, and now sells a range of other soft drinks, as well as several variations on the Coca-Cola drink, such as Diet Coke, Coca-Cola with Lemon, Diet Coke with Lemon, Coca-Cola with Lime, Diet Coke with Lime, Vanilla Coke, Diet Vanilla Coke, Cherry Coke and Diet Cherry Coke, as well as several other drinks, including Sprite, Appletiser, Lilt, Dr. Pepper , 7-Up (Although in the US Dr. Pepper and 7-Up are owned by an independent company) and the several Fanta flavours, and all of their diet counterparts.

The Coca-Cola idea started in Atlanta in 1886, when Dr. John Stith Pemberton was forced, due to a new prohibition law, to find a new product to replace his nerve tonic, stimulant and headache remedy, Pemberton's French Wine Coca. He had to remove the wine from the formula, and instead replaced it with sugar. The new formula contained extract of coca leaves (cocaine) and kola nuts, hence the name: Coca-Cola, a name suggested by Pemberton's bookkeeper Frank Robinson. The local pharmacist, Jacob's Pharmacy, started to supply the new recipe in their soda fountain on 8th May 1886. Just prior to his death in 1888 he sold the rights to Coca-Cola to Asa Candler. It cost him $2300 and took him 3 years to gain sole ownership of Coca-Cola, buying smaller shares from other people who Pemberton had sold shares to. In 1899 he gave two men and their company the exclusive right to sell Coca-Cola throughout all of the US. In 1919 the Coca-Cola company was sold to an Atlantan banker named Ernest Woodruff for $25m. The company then pioneered the six-bottle carton. Nowadays Coca-Cola is sold in 200 countries, and more than 70% of their income comes from outside the US.

The general opinion of the public is that you should not drink Coca-Cola on a regular basis (ie. every day), as it has a detrimental effect on teeth, and can be unhealthy because of sheer sugar content. It can also, if consumed in a large quantity on a single occasion, cause temporary hyperactivity, because the caffeine in the Coca-Cola acts as a stimulant.