President Donald Trump continues to use his bully pulpit to pressure the food and beverage industry to reformulate products with “real” ingredients: This time taking aim at Coca-Cola’s use of high fructose corn syrup in its flagship soft drink sold in the US.
The president’s bold proclamation on social media last night that Coca-Cola agreed to use real cane sugar in Coke in the US has caused consternation without confirmation.
Despite Trump’s claims in social media posts, including via the White House’s Instagram feed, that he has “been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so,” the company has not acquiesced publicly.
The beverage giant hinted in a statement that “more details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon,” but it offered no further details about whether it would reformulate its iconic beverage.
It did, however, express its appreciation for “President Trump’s enthusiasm.”
This is more than some other industry heavyweights – including the Corn Refiners Association, which slammed the president’s proclamation – stopping short of calling the claim un-American.
“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,” said Corn Refiners Association President and CEO John Bode.
He prefaced his assessment by saying: “President Trump stands for American manufacturing jobs, American farmers and reducing the trade deficit.”
A transition from high fructose corn syrup to cane sugar would not necessarily be a net hit to US production, but rather just a shift.
According to USDA, the US is among the largest sugar producers with strong holds in sugarcane and sugarbeet production.
“Since the mid-2000s, sugarcane has accounted for between 40 and 45% of the total sugar produced domestically, and sugarbeets accounted for between 55 and 60% of production,” according to USDA, which adds the US produces about 9 million short tons, raw value annually – up from 6 million in the early 1980s. Most sugarcane in the US is produced in Florida, Louisiana and Texas.
Trump’s praise of sugar counters RFK’s critique of it
Trump’s declaration that Coke made with sugar is “just better” runs counter to his own apparent taste preferences, which famously lean towards Diet Coke sweetened with aspartame.
It also runs counter to HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s equally famous assessment in April that sugar is “poison,” and his efforts to Make America Healthy Again by discouraging its consumption.
Trump tears a page from RFK’s playbook
However, Trump and Kennedy appear aligned on their tactic of spurring change without following regulatory routes that require public comment periods.
Following a closed-door meeting in March with select CPG leaders, Kennedy said the food industry had reached an “agreement” to remove from their products select synthetic dyes, including Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6, Blue 1 and 2 and Green 3.
While only a handful of packaged food and beverage makers initially affirmed their agreement, multiple major players and the Consumer Brands Association have since signaled their compliance.
CBA last week capitulated to federal agency pressure to phase out synthetic dyes even though a spokesperson said the ingredients are “safe” as “supported by scientific evidence and a longstanding history of approval by the FDA.”
The trade group said it would voluntarily commit to “encourage the makers of America’s food and beverage products to remove certified Food, Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) colors from products served in schools nationwide by the start of the 2026-2027 school year.”
It added in the statement that the “announcement is a positive example of federal agencies and industry leading together,” and it said it would “continue to work with the administration on what a larger nationwide phaseout could look like in order to avoid state patchworks, consumer confusion and impacts to product access and affordability.”
Weeks earlier, JM Smucker, Nestle USA and Conagra Brands joined a growing list of large CPG food and beverage companies – including Kraft Heinz and General Mills – committed to removing artificial colors from their products in the US.
The steady drumbeat of industry agreeing to phase out synthetic dyes suggest the playbook from which Trump is tearing a page to pressure Coca-Cola publicly could produce results.
The roundabout approach to change not only sidesteps required public input on proposed regulations but also Trump’s Executive Order that for every new regulation, 10 must be removed.
