The easy part was figuring out how to deep fry Coke.

The hard part was getting permission to use the name Deep Fried Coke at the CNE where cups of the worm-shaped, Coke-flavoured batter are being introduced for the first time this year.

In the end, concession operator Andrew Motta lost the battle. He says he was told Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., vetoed it.

His recipe still contains Coke syrup, though. In fact, it has to since Coke has exclusive rights to the CNE. The company, celebrating its 125th birthday this year, is a major CNE sponsor.

Coca-Cola Canada says its sales associates in Toronto were asked for approval to use its trademark, which is routinely denied.

“Sounds like some fun treats at the Ex this year, though. As for us, on a hot summer day, we prefer our Coca-Cola on ice,” company spokesperson Scott Tabachnik wrote in an email.

Motta said he was told the product no longer fit Coke's corporate image.

“They're trying to brand themselves as the healthy alternative now, if you can imagine that. So they don't want to be associated with anything deep fried,” Motta said on phone Monday.

Motta says it was CNE management that sought to ensure Coca-Cola was okay with the deep-fried name. The answer, when it came back last week, left him scrambling for a new logo.

CNE spokesperson Annette Borger said she wants to try the item regardless of its name.

“For trademark reasons, we were told, the product should be referred to as Deep Fried Cola. Still delicious. I'm excited to try the product.”

Motta estimates that a 16-ounce cup of Deep Fried Cola — he's planning to charge $5.97 plus tax — topped with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry probably runs close to 1,000 calories, half the recommended adult daily intake.

(He hasn't actually done a nutritional analysis.)

But he says the CNE is the one place everyone “cheats” on their diet. It's part of the fun.

Long a favourite on the American carnival circuit, where it's still called Deep Fried Coke because no one there asked permission, Motta figured it was his best hope of winning a greater share of this fast-growing food category.

Remember Deep Fried Butter, last year's artery-clogging CNE sensation?

Motta, who with his brother is operating five CNE booths this year, said he's also selling deep-fried Oreos and deep-fried Pop Tarts, among other items.

So, just how does he deep fry Coke?

Motta will say only that he spent a week in his kitchen adapting a funnel cake recipe that produces little worm-shaped sticks of batter filled with Coke syrup, the thick, sticky stuff that forms the basis of fountain pop before the carbonated water is added.

Invented by Abel Gonzales Jr., who is also the creator of Deep Fried Butter, Deep Fried Coke was introduced in 2006 at the State Fair of Texas.

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Like Motta, Gonzales keeps the recipe a closely guarded secret, but you can watch him make it on YouTube.

Motta's booth, called the Deep Fried Pop Shop, will be inside the Food Building. It also features Deep Fried Cherry Aid, which looks like Timbits made with red Kool-Aid.

Coke wouldn't agree to let him use that name, either, he said, as the Kraft-owned Kool-Aid brand is a competitor to its Vitamin Water.

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