Coca-Cola has started selling a version of Coke in the U.S. that uses cane sugar, rather than high-fructose corn syrup following a demand from President Donald Trump.
According to CNN, the cane sugar version of Coca-Cola is being launched in “select” cities and retailers in the United States after Trump said the company had agreed to use cane sugar in its cola last July.
Some international versions of Coke already use cane sugar, including Coca-Cola sold in Mexico. The company also uses cane sugar in several other beverages it sells in the United States, including Gold Peak real brewed tea.
Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey announced in late July that the company would be bringing a Coke produced with cane sugar to the U.S. market in the fall, saying that the new drink would “complement” and “expand” its product range.
The high-fructose corn syrup used in American-made Coca-Cola is a common and sweetener made from corn grown in the U.S., which is then processed into starch and converted into corn syrup. It is far less expensive as an ingredient than cane sugar, is why Coca-Cola made the switch many years ago.
However, high-fructose corn syrup is an ingredient that U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has aggressively advocated against. A “MAHA Commission” report in May argued that high-fructose corn syrup is a factor in obesity and related diseases. But scientists say there is little nutritional difference between sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.
Hoosier Ag Today reported earlier this year that John Bode, President and CEO of the Corn Refiners Association, had slammed Trump’s push to get Coca-Cola to stop using corn syrup in its Coca-Cola formula.
“Replacing HFCS with cane sugar would be a devastating blow to thousands of manufacturing jobs in American agriculture,” said Bode. “It would depress farm prices, and it would add to our trade deficit because every bit of HFCS that is replaced with cane sugar would be imported cane sugar.”
Bode cited a study from North Dakota State University that explains what the economic impact would be on the U.S. corn industry if Coca-Cola were to completely stop using HFCS altogether.
“The immediate impact on corn prices, nationally, would be 15-to-34 cents per bushel, a devastating blow to American agriculture. And, once again, this tweet was talking about cane sugar, so there’s not any consolation for the beet growers,” said Bode.
Sources: CNN, NAFB News Service
