President Donald Trump said Coca-Cola agreed to use cane sugar in its namesake soda in the U.S., but the beverage giant stopped short of confirming his claim.
“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,” Trump, a fan of Diet Coke, said in a social media post on X.“This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!”
A Coca-Cola spokesperson, when asked about Trump’s post, said the company appreciated the president's “enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand." They added that “more details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.”
For four decades, Coca-Cola sold in the U.S. has generally been sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. Coke in some countries, such as Mexico, uses sugar.
The Atlanta-based CPG company imports Coke from Mexico to the U.S. for consumers who prefer the taste or who view sugar as a more natural ingredient.
Coca-Cola’s original formula, which dates back to the late 1800s, used cane sugar as its sweetener. The company switched to high-fructose corn in the early 1980s amid elevated costs for sugar.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previously criticized high-fructose corn syrup as “a formula for making you obese and diabetic.” Kennedy, who has vowed to “Make America Healthy Again,” has also pushed food companies to remove artificial colors from their products.
John Bode, president and CEO of The Corn Refiners Association, said in a statement that replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar “doesn’t make sense.”
It “would cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs, depress farm income, and boost imports of foreign sugar, all with no nutritional benefit,” Bode said.
