If you’re from anywhere NEAR the Atlanta area, you already know that Coca-Cola is THE soft drink of choice for us ATLiens.

With the “A” being Coke’s primary headquarters and the city in which the worldwide brand was created, it’s only natural for it’s residents to favor their hometown’s creation and it’s secret recipe has always been a sacred thing.

[WATCH: CeeLo’s “Open Happiness” Coke Commercial ~ VIDEO]

So whooda thought that an internet radio show would obtain that info and put it in the streets for free?

Especially considering the fact that one of Coke’s own secretaries risked life and limb to sell that bit of valuable information to their rival soft drink competitor PepsiCo for a few million dollars (only to be ratted out and subsequently sentenced to 8 years in prison).

[CLICK HERE to revisit that sordid tale of corporate espionage.]

But I digress…

An Atlanta pharmacist named John Pemberton is credited with inventing the popular soda and his original recipe was written down in a binder that also contained the ingredients of various ointments and medicines that had been passed down from generation to generation.

A photograph of that recipe, from that very recipe book, was published in the Feb. 18, 1979, edition of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and no one has ever realized it’s significance… until now.

In case you’re wondering what’s (allegedly) in Coke’s secret recipe, check out the historical photo PLUS details below:

A photo from the February 18, 1979 edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, purportedly showing the original recipe for Coca-Cola. We set out to learn if it was. The final recipe, we believe, is in the right hand column. The 7X formula is below the horizontal line, the other ingredients above. ~ Via ThisAmericanLife

The host of the ThisAmericanLife podcast, tracked down a few other people who claimed to have discovered the recipe as well and though they didn’t quite match up exactly, they were so strikingly similar that they concluded that the recipe posted in the AJC is the original.

…and here it is. Coca-Cola’s infamous secret recipe (at least that’s what they’re claiming):

ThisAmericanLife consulted historian Mark Pendergrast, who has written a history of the drink and he believes the recipe could be, as Coca-Cola?s famous slogan goes, the real thing.

?I think that it certainly is a version of the formula.?

If Pendergrast’s assumption is correct, it could unlock the key to one of the world?s most recognizable brands, which is sold in more than 200 countries.

I, personally, would like the “secret recipe” to remain a secret!! Is anything sacred these days???

VIDEO: Tyrese Coke Commercial (1994)

VIDEO: LL Cool J Coke Commercial (1998)