alt Hacker NewsWait, really? So why doesn't someone just reverse-engineer Coca-Cola like that? My understanding was that a "clean room" implementation is fine, but not reverse-engineering. If you can just copy everything on the market, why isn't someone already doing that?
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The Coca-Cola formula was reverse engineered in 2026 by a sufficiently motivated individual.
Here it is.
Per liter of cola:
104 g sugar
1 mL Flavor Solution A
10 mL Flavor Solution B
Carbonated water to volume
Flavor Solution A (Essential Oils):
Dilute 20–21 mL of the following oil mixture to 1 L using 95% ethanol:
45.8 mL lemon oil
36.5 mL lime oil
8 mL tea tree oil (emulates decocainized coca leaf extract)
4.5 mL Cassia cinnamon oil
2.7 mL nutmeg oil
1.2 mL orange oil
0.7 mL coriander oil
0.6 mL fenchol
Flavor Solution B (Chemical and Color Base):
Dilute the following ingredients to a volume of 1 L using water:
320 mL Shank's caramel color or 190 mL Durkee caramel color
160 g glycerin
45 mL 85% phosphoric acid
10 mL vinegar (5% acidity)
10 mL vanilla extract
10 g wine tannins (emulates decocainized coca leaf extract)
9.65 g caffeine
Because having the nominal rights and having the economical means, societal incentives and actual desire to do so can be highly disjoint sets?
Plus Coca-Cola itself don’t even use the same formula through time and space IIRC. Which clearly show that what people will buy when they reach for Coca-Cola is not even the exact actual taste. You can’t replicate the whole customer experience that a given company provide at some point by only cloning the top of the iceberg they showcase as the product.
In the case of coca cola, because use of coca leaves is highly regulated due to the fact that they also contain cocaine. There is a YouTuber who claims to have reverse engineered Coca-Cola, but he had to use tea-tree oil instead of actual coca leaf extract.
Here's EFF on reverse engineering and the law: https://www.eff.org/issues/coders/reverse-engineering-faq
Historically a lot of competition in physical products was very much reverse engineering. Because you can buy them without signing your rights away. That's why companies are keen on patents and click-through agreements.
If you look at how "clean room" processes work, they are actually a form of reverse engineering. Also clean room technique exists to avoid your new implementation infringing copyright, not trade secrets.