Coca-Cola is refusing to confirm President Trump’s claim that the soft drink giant would only use cane sugar in its signature Coke sodas.
Hours after Trump posted on his social media site that Coca-Cola had “agreed” with his suggestion to replace high-fructose corn syrup with cane sugar in its famed quaff, the corporation’s spokesperson sounded less than 100% sure that it’s the real thing.
“We appreciate President Trump’s enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand,” Michelle Agnew, a Coke spokeswoman, said in a statement. “More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.”
Trump included no details about who at the Atlanta-based beverage and snack food behemoth had given the green light for the sweetener switcheroo, which would reverse the company’s 1980 cost-saving move away from sugar.
“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 wrote on his social media site. “This will be a very good move by them.”
“You’ll see. It’s just better!” he added.
The wouldn’t affect Trump’s famous drink of choice, Diet Coke, which uses aspartame as a calorie-free beverage.
Trump ordered a red button installed on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office that he can summon a White House butler to bring the quaff of choice for him, and reportedly drinks up to a dozen of the sodas daily.
If it happens, the move would reverse a 1984 Coca-Cola decision to mostly use high-fructose corn syrup amid rising cane sugar prices.
A switch would put American Coke more in line with its recipe in other countries, including Mexico, which produces its own Coke that has gained a significant cult following in the U.S.
Since 2005, Coca-Cola has recognized the market for Mexican Coke by importing it from south of the border to Texas and to other markets with large Mexican-American communities.
The push by Trump coincides with an effort by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to improve the healthfulness of America’s food supply. He has denounced high-fructose corn syrup along with other sweeteners as “poison” especially for young people.
The switch could boost American cane sugar production. But corn farmers and food processing companies said the move would cost American jobs and wouldn’t make Coke healthier.
“Replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar doesn’t make sense,” Corn Refiners Association President and CEO John Bode said in a statement. “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.”
