'Secret recipe for Coca-Cola' for sale on eBay for $5m

A US man has offered to sell what he claims is the secret recipe for Coca Cola.

Coca-Cola has fiercely protected the recipe, keeping it secret for decades Photo: AP

Cliff Kluge, an antiques dealer from Georgia, told ABC news that had found the 1943 recipe in an old box of letters he bought at an estate sale around four years ago for about $100.

"Whoever had typed this letter had seen the original recipe. The letter always references Coke and products and stuff," he said.

Coca-Cola has fiercely protected the recipe, keeping it secret for decades. "We know he doesn't have the formula. There is only one copy." Ted Ryan, chief archivist at Coca-Cola, told ABC News.

Mr Ryan said Mr Kluge must have one of "many imitator copies". "I'm going to go to sleep peacefully," he said.

Mr Kluge has set the initial bidding at a steep $5million - but offered free shipping to the winning bidder. The document could be bought outright for $15 million. The eBay product description promised that this would be "a drop in the bucket" if the recipe were to yield an accurate formula for Coca Cola.

The recipe for Coca Cola, which is sold in every country except Cuba and North Korea, is believed to include cinnamon, nutmeg, citrus oils and vanilla.

Whatever the history of the document, even Mr Kluge admitted that its veracity would be impossible to authenticate.

The initial auction came to a close on May 14. No bids had been made.