Replying to Avatar Habanero

Coca-cola still uses coca leaf in their soft drinks. They extract the cocaine chemical before they use the leaf... where does the extracted cocaine go?
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Mallory 2y ago

Coca-Cola is actually sent the extract by the only company in the US allowed to import and process coca leaves. Stephan Company of Northfield, Illinois though their plant is in Maywood, NJ.

Coca-Cola is the only brand allowed to use coca leaf extract as an ingredient in the US. They were grandfathered in.

The cocaine that's been extracted from the leaves is sold to Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, the only company in the U.S. licensed to purify cocaine for medicinal use, specifically cocaine hydrochloride, a prescription drug used in hospitals as a local anesthetic by eye and ear, nose and throat doctors. Mallinckodt is a long-time St. Louis company that was sold in 2000, but its operations headquarters is still based in St. Louis.

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Habanero 2y ago

Too easy... how about something more difficult.

Who is the largest share holder of the Federal Reserve bank and what percent of the bank do they hold?

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Mallory 2y ago

I would have to file an updated FOI to find out the exact amount of shares JP Morgan Chase holds. However they are currently the bank with the highest amount of capital. Since banks must buy shares in their regional fed equivalent to 6% of their capital. It follows that they own the most shares.

Current opinion: there should be a lot more transparency between the federal reserve and the people.

Also if you just google, biggest shareholder in the federal reserve, you will get such a wide variety of answers. It brought to mind that phrase, “opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.”

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Habanero 2y ago

The Federal Reserve currently considers themselves exempt from most every FOIA request. Bravo for searching deeper! The real answer is quite elusive, if all together unknowable... The rumor is that Citi Bank currently has the most shares and JP Morgan second, with those two holding almost 3/4 of the outstanding shares!

https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2bsx0wq4jdzo82fk8nhfk/culture/conspiracy-theorists-ask-who-owns-the-new-york-fed-heres-the-answer

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Mallory 2y ago

So according to a FOIA Citibank was the largest shareholder of the New York Regional Fed in 2019. JP Morgan was second behind them. If I’m recalling correctly they owned 46% of all shares held by the New York Regional Fed. Due to the 12 distinct regional feds it makes it much harder to get an idea of what percentage of shares a bank holds of the total shares of the Federal Reserve.

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Habanero 2y ago

I think about these things, and then I stare at these two charts and wonder how the system has not blown up yet

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Mallory 2y ago

So according to a FOIA Citibank was the largest shareholder of the New York Regional Fed in 2019. JP Morgan was second behind them. If I’m recalling correctly they owned 46% of all shares held by the New York Regional Fed. Due to the 12 distinct regional feds it makes it much harder to get an idea of what percentage of shares a bank holds of the total shares of the Federal Reserve.