President Donald Trump said Wednesday Coca-Cola will switch from high-fructose cane syrup to cane sugar, but the brand didn't confirm the statement.
"I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so," the president said. I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!"
In a statement, Coca-Cola was non-committal. “We appreciate President Trump’s enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand,” the company wrote. “More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.”
Coke is sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup in the United States, but in other countries including Mexico, it contains cane sugar.
Corn Refiners Association President and CEO John Bode cautioned against the move in his own statement.
“Replacing high-fructose corn syrup with cane sugar doesn’t make sense. President Trump stands for American manufacturing jobs, American farmers, and reducing the trade deficit,” said Bode. “Replacing high-fructose corn syrup with cane sugar would cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs, depress farm income, and boost imports of foreign sugar, all with no nutritional benefit.”
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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others in the Make America Healthy Again movement have rallied against corn syrup, among other ingredients. Already, companies are reacting to some of these criticisms by pledging to move away from synthetic food dyes.
A key MAHA influencer Vani Hari, also known as the Food Babe, called the move one of the “biggest MAHA wins to date.”
“Any amount less of high fructose corn syrup in the American diet is a good thing,” Hari said on NewsNation Wednesday.
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