Featured Image Credit: Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images/Mike Stobe/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Health, Politics, Social Media, Food and Drink, US News
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Madison Burgess
Topics: Donald Trump, Health, Politics, Social Media, Food and Drink, US News
Donald Trump’s latest bombshell move is for once nothing to do with world conflict, the ongoing Epstein files chaos or even really politics - instead, he’s turned his attention to food and drinks.
The 79-year-old US president has announced that he’s allegedly convinced Coca-Cola to change its American recipe.
Taking to his own social media platform on Wednesday (16 July), he revealed the unexpected news and said he’s been talking to the drinks giant about the changes.
And the brand itself has even issued a cryptic response, which was also published onto its website on Wednesday.
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In a short statement, it said: “We appreciate President Trump’s enthusiasm for our iconic Coca‑Cola brand. More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca‑Cola product range will be shared soon.”
And this is quite the passion project, with Trump reportedly even having a button installed in the Oval Office's Resolute desk so that he can be served Diet Coke whenever he likes.
So what is this new change Trump said the brand has ‘agreed’ to?
The Republican leader claimed the brand will switch to using real cane sugar instead of corn syrup, which American Coca-Cola is usually sweetened with.
He wrote on Truth Social: “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.
“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!”
And America wouldn’t be the first to use real cane sugar, as other countries including Mexico, the UK and Australia, already do so.
It comes after Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been critical of high sugar consumption within the US.
The Trump administration's Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative has been making a mission out of getting food companies to alter their formulations to remove ingredients such as artificial dyes.
Kennedy has also slammed the amount of sugar consumed in the American diet and said that updated dietary guidelines set to be released this summer will advise people to instead choose ‘whole food’.
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Meanwhile, a report by the MAHA Commission in May found that substantial consumption of high-fructose corn syrup could play a role in childhood obesity and other conditions.
According to Reuters, medical experts have recommended limiting added sugar in diets, however they have not identified any significant differences between cane sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.
The Corn Refiners Association President and CEO John Bode has hit out against Trump’s alleged changes to the popular drink.
He said: "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.”
The BBC reported that in April, the CEO of Coca-Cola, James Quincey, told investors that the company is continuing to ‘make progress on sugar reduction’ in its beverages.
He said the company has ‘done this by changing recipes as well as by using our global marketing resources and distribution network to boost awareness of and interest in our ever-expanding portfolio’.