The Best Food Myths Tested On MythBusters

Publish date: 2024-05-07

Life hacks are the bread and butter of social media, and odds are every person knows of at least one alternate use for Coca-Cola. Aside from drinking the stuff, the "Mythbusters" team noted that Coke can clean bloodstains, dissolve steak and other organic matter, clean chrome, dissolve rust, clean greasy messes, and even act as an on-hand spermicide (via The Turek Clinic). In 2003, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman graciously tested these myths in a segment called "101 Uses for Cola."

To be clear, the team used the generic term "cola" to describe the experimental soda, not necessarily Coca-Cola. That said, the experiments yielded some impressive results. For instance, to test cola's ability to clean up dried blood, Savage drew an outline around Hyneman's body on asphalt, and the two poured animal blood onto the spot. After leaving the spot to dry in the sun, they poured on some cola and were amazed to see the soda fizz and clear away the dried blood.

So, does cola make a good spermicide? In an extremely sophisticated experiment, the men dropped cola onto a slide with sperm and counted, by eye, the number of individuals swimming around. Upon seeing the cola-pumped sperm, Hyneman commented that they may have been invigorated by the caffeine. Ultimately, no sperm were harmed in the making of this experiment. The team had no choice but to call this myth a bust.

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