The riddle—and the answer—was given to me by a friend who knows of my interest in nutrition.  The answer supplied to me was, “Because the 10^th teaspoon of sugar wouldn’t dissolve in the water.”  That is an interesting answer—but it is not the proper or correct answer.

Before I share the correct answer, let me share this:  I’m not a fan of sugar-heavy drinks or the companies that produce them.  Others have written about the negative societal effects of Coca-Cola.  You can read them HERE and HERE.

The company is embedded in our culture.  The red and white logo is ubiquitous, “pouring” contracts signed by schools may help finance extracurricular activities but they also serve to get young people on the “sugar train” resulting in a lifetime of drinking the product.  And the brilliant marketing department of Coca-Cola has made us all believe that polar bears actually enjoy the product.

The stock of Coca-Cola (symbol COKE) is in numerous pension plans, mutual funds and, therefore, 401(k) plans.  If you’re an investor in a retirement plan, you probably own the stock.  Their political and economic power is equal to that of any worldwide corporation producing and selling an unhealthy end product.

My main issue with the company has to do with the now defunct Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN).  This was a Coca-Cola funded group whose only mission was to convince the world that the obesity issue in America was caused by the lack of activity among its citizens and not due to the diet.  I use the word “convince” because the word “prove” doesn’t apply here.

The GEBN gave funding to willing university employees at the Schools of Public Health at West Virginia University and the University of South Carolina.  Their job was to write reports that would ignore known science and common sense and deflect Coke’s calorie-heavy product away from the nation’s obesity issue.  

Various groups objected to the mission of the GEBN.  Front page articles about the ridiculousness of the mission made the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.  Australia’s consumer watchdog organization “Choice” gave Coca-Cola its “Shonky Award”.  (From the Shonky Award website: “We name and shame the products and services that have added distress, disappointment and difficulty to our lives.”)

One group that didn’t object: the whorish Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND).  The group that represents Registered Dietitians receives education funding from Coca-Cola.  (Did you know “education” sometimes means subsidized hotel rooms, meals and alcohol at the annual Las Vegas convention?) No individual RD objected to the GEBN (why piss off a potential future employer?)

The backlash from those who cared was great enough that the money provided by Coke was returned from the universities and the company’s chief public scientist retired.  That person’s job was not refilled.  The Global Energy Balance Network was no more.

Coca-Cola is too entrenched in the world to have any lasting effects from the GEBN—or anything else it does.  Their product will be everywhere forever.  We just don’t have to drink it.

NOTES:   The answer to the riddle is twofold.  More than 10 teaspoons of sugar will dissolve in water.  I was up to 12 teaspoons of sugar in a 12-ounce cup of water before ending the experiment.  The more relevant answer: Coke no longer uses sugar in its product.  In 1980, the company switched to the cheaper High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).  It only takes 2.2 tsps. of HFCS to equal the “sweetness level” of 9.2 tsps. of sugar.  (Speaking of cheaper, the profit-margin on a can of Coke has to be in excess of 1,500%).

So, that’s the answer to the riddle.  One more sugary note before concluding.  My father used to bring home jugs of Lemon Blennd concentrate in the summer.  My brothers and I would cut it 5 to 1 with water and drink it or sell it at a lemonade stand.  In terms of sugar content, Blennd was probably the champion.  If Coke uses the equivalent of 9.2 tsps. of sugar per 12 ounces, Blennd was using 10.35 tsps.  

I used the word “was” because it appears Lemon Blennd is no more.  You can read about it’s demise HERE.