Washington, July 23, 2025 – Coca-Cola announced on Tuesday that it will release a new version of Coke using cane sugar later this year.
“As part of its ongoing innovation agenda, this fall in the United States, the company plans to launch an offering made with U.S. cane sugar to expand its Trademark Coca-Cola product range,” Coca-Cola said in a press release reporting its second quarter earnings.
“This addition is designed to complement the company’s strong core portfolio and offer more choices across occasions and preferences.”
The announcement came days after President Trump said in a social media post that the company had agreed with him to do so.
“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 in a Truth Social post last week. “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!”
Other countries, such as Mexico, already use cane sugar in their version of the soda — but the American version of Coke uses high-fructose corn syrup, a different type of sweetener that has the same amount of calories.
Many people prefer the so-called Mexican Coke, which, while less common, is also available for purchase in stores and restaurants around the United States.
What is real cane sugar? Why haven’t we been using it?
First, let’s explain what “real cane sugar” means. Cane sugar comes from sugarcane plants and is a natural sugar. High-fructose corn syrup, on the other hand, is made from corn. Chemically, the two are slightly different: Cane sugar is made of glucose and fructose bonded together, while high-fructose corn syrup has free glucose and fructose mixed separately.
Cane sugar fell out of favor for use in food manufacturing about 40 years ago, when then-President Ronald Reagan put a limit on sugar imports, raising the price of domestic sugar. Enter high-fructose corn syrup, which was cheaper to produce on U.S. soil.
Now high-fructose corn syrup is in so many foods for sale in the United Ttates, from Coke to packaged baked goods to some pasta sauces.
Even some brands of cottage cheese contain high-fructose corn syrup. (And it’s important to note that high-fructose corn syrup is not the same as the sweet, sticky corn syrup you can find at the grocery store — it’s made available only by food manufacturers.)
High-fructose corn syrup and cane sugar (chemical name: sucrose) may taste very similar, but they are absorbed differently by the body.
When you eat sucrose, your digestive system breaks it down into glucose and fructose before they’re absorbed into your bloodstream. High-fructose corn syrup already contains free glucose and fructose, so your body absorbs them directly without needing to break them apart first.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services, has been a vocal critic of high-fructose corn syrup. He called it “a formula for making you obese and diabetic” in a promotional video during his own failed presidential run in 2024.
However, this position has placed him at odds with corn farmers, according to the New York Time – many of whom supported Trump in the 2024 election. (Yahoo health)
