Coca-Cola dodges after Trump says soda will switch back to cane sugar
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Coca-Cola in the United States will begin to be made with cane sugar, but the company did not explicitly say that was the case when it was asked later about Trump’s claim.
Trump said Wednesday afternoon on Truth Social that he had been speaking to Coca-Cola about using cane sugar in the sodas sold in the United States and that the company agreed to his idea.
“This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!” Trump wrote in the post.
But Coca-Cola did not commit to the change when NBC News asked it later about Trump’s post.
“We appreciate President Trump’s enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.”
It remains unclear whether Coca-Cola agreed to Trump’s proposal or whether the beloved soda will still be made with corn syrup.
The Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again initiative, named for the social movement aligned with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has pushed food companies to alter their formulations to remove ingredients like artificial dyes.
Coca-Cola produced for the U.S. market is typically sweetened with corn syrup, while the company uses cane sugar in some other countries, including Mexico and various European countries.
Coca-Cola announced in 1984 it was going to “significantly increase” the amount of corn syrup it was using in its U.S. products, The New York Times reported at the time.
Coca-Cola said it would use corn syrup to sweeten bottled and canned Coke, as well as caffeine-free Coke, but left itself “flexibility” to use other sweeteners, like sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, the Times reported.
Kennedy has criticized how much sugar is consumed in the American diet and has said updated dietary guidelines released this summer will advise people to “eat whole food.”
Trump has been known to enjoy Coca-Cola products. The Wall Street Journal reported that a Diet Coke button, which allows him to order the soda on demand, has joined him in the Oval Office for both of his terms.