美國男子宣稱發現可口可樂配方副本

Atlanta’s Cliff Kluge claims to have stumbled upon a 70-year-old copy of the official recipe for Coca-Cola, and he’s selling it on eBay for $5 million.

"You don't stumble on things like this very often," Kluge told WXIA. "It's a letter, and a formula, and the processes to make it. I think it's a little deeper than having fun; I think it's the recipe for Coca-Cola."

For its part, Coca-Cola maintains that the secret recipe for the world’s best-selling soft drink is still safely ensconced at the World of Coca-Cola in downtown Atlanta.

"Through the years, many have tried to crack the secret formula, but no one has been able to reproduce the 'real thing,'" the company said in a statement. “The real formula is safely tucked away in a vault at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta."

Kluge says that he and his wife discovered the recipe inside a box of letters and papers they recently purchased from an estate sale. The recipe is dated 1943. Coca-Cola says its recipe has been kept a secret since the 19th century.

However, Kluge says his recipe closely resembles that of one uncovered by NPR in 2011 and aired on the episode “The Recipe” of "This American Life." When NPR posted that recipe online, the number of users clicking it caused NPR's site to crash.

But if you want to buy Kluge’s recipe, you won't just be able to copy if off of eBay. He has redacted most of the specific details for the recipe. Instead, you’ll need some spare change: $5 million. Or $15 million if you want to guarantee yourself a winning bid by using the “Buy It Now” option.

So, has anyone stepped up to meet minimum asking price?

"Uh, no," Kluge told WXIA.

"It's just excitement," he added. "It's an Easter egg hunt, looking for eggs out there. And when you come up with something like this, it's Christmas."

Kluge said he reached out to Coca-Cola but hasn’t heard back.

"They told me they'd call me back in 7-10 business days," he said. "Well, they haven't contacted me back."可口可樂風靡全球，其獨家配方一直是頂級商業機密。但是，據外國媒體5月14日報道，美國亞特蘭大市的克利夫·克拉格宣稱，他無意中發現七十年前的一份可口可樂正式配方副本，並在eBay網站標價500萬美元（約合人民幣3072萬元）出售。

克拉格說，“人們不會經常偶遇這樣的事情。那是一封信，寫着配方和製作過程。我認爲，那不會只是開玩笑，那就是可口可樂的配方。”

據克拉格說，最近，他和妻子在資產拍賣會上買到一盒信件和文件，從中發現了這個配方。配方上寫着1943年，但是可口可樂公司表示，自十九世紀以來，他們一直保守着配方的祕密。“許多年來，很多人都試圖破解這個祕密配方，但是沒有人能夠複製出‘真正的配方’。”該公司在聲明中表示，“真正的配方安全地儲藏在亞特蘭大可口可樂世界博物館。”

然而，克拉格說，他的配方非常接近2011年美國國家共同電臺（NPR）在“美國生活”網站“食譜”欄目中透露的配方。當時，NPR在網上貼出這個配方，無數用戶的點擊曾導致網站崩潰。

如果想購買克拉格的配方，你不上eBay網，根本無法複製，因爲他編輯了配方的大部分細節。你需要付出一大筆錢：500萬美元。而且，如果你想通過使用“立即購買”選項確保自己中標，就要支付1500萬美元。

那麼，有人出來購買嗎？

“呃，還沒有。”克拉格說。“這令人興奮。好像復活節在外面找彩蛋。而遇到這樣的事，就是過聖誕節啦。”

克拉格說，他跟可口可樂公司聯繫過，但是沒有得到迴音。他說，“他們告訴我，會在7至10個工作日內回話。但是，現在還沒和我聯繫。”