Trump wants to change the Coke recipe now Yes, politics are also involved here

It is said that the Coca-Cola recipe has remained unchanged since 1886; however, as early as the 1980s, the brand began using corn syrup as a sweetener instead of cane sugar. And it is precisely cane sugar that, in recent hours, has triggered yet another mental breakdown from Trump. On Truth Social, in fact, the former President of the United States declared that he had personally spoken with executives from the beverage giant to request once again the replacement of the sweetener used in the world’s most famous soda. The reasons behind this request would not be linked to mere taste preferences, although such a motivation would be perfectly in line with Trump’s notoriously impulsive personality, but rather of a political nature. In reality, Coca-Cola’s ingredient combination varies from country to country, precisely to allow the parent company to make use of local resources. That is also why the taste of the soft drink can change significantly from one nation to another. In the United States, not by chance, millions of citizens prefer the so-called “Mexican Coke”, precisely because it uses (drum roll) cane sugar instead of corn syrup. Given the geographical proximity between the two countries, the Mexican variant is easily found in many American states, which is why demand for this type of export continues to grow.

It is not the first time that the topic of sweeteners has ended up at the center of political debates in the United States in recent times. The U.S. health secretary and his Make America Healthy Again movement, together with Robert Kennedy Jr., have long been pressing companies to eliminate ingredients such as corn syrup, seed oils, and artificial colorants from their products, claiming that these components are at the root of a long list of health issues. However, the campaign does not adopt the same institutional tone as the mission carried out by Michelle Obama when she served as First Lady, but rather fits into a context marked by conspiracy theories from RFK Jr., often considered extremely harmful to public health. More than against refined sugars, the battle seems in fact to be directed at everything that is not perceived as “natural,” as demonstrated by JFK’s nephew’s obsession with raw milk. Curiously enough, Trump is a well-known Diet Coke drinker, a beverage sweetened with aspartame, a chemical and artificial sweetener, to the point of having a special button installed on the Resolute desk in the Oval Office to have his favorite drink served, according to the BBC.

The BBC highlights that, beyond an impact on exports (and therefore on the whole tariff issue), a potential decision by Coca-Cola to switch to cane sugar could have negative domestic repercussions, especially for U.S. corn farmers. John Bode, president and CEO of the Corn Refiners Association, stated that replacing corn syrup with cane sugar would result in the loss of thousands of jobs in the American food industry, a reduction in farm income, and an increase in sugar imports from abroad, all without bringing any nutritional benefit. Confirming the sensitivity of the topic, the market also reacted quickly: according to the Financial Times, in fact, the shares of the main companies listed as corn syrup producers, Archer Daniels Midland and Ingredion, respectively, suffered a 6.3% and 8.9% drop in after-hours trading on Wednesday, while Coca-Cola shares remained unchanged.