Donald Trump claims he's behind a major change to Coca-Cola recipe
Kerri-Ann Roper
Featured Image Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
US President Donald Trump is often cited as a major fan of fast food and unhealthy snacks.
There have even been reports that he has had McDonald’s meals delivered to Air Force One, and of course, he even worked in one of the fast food chain’s restaurants as part of his election campaign trail.
Late last year, he was photographed at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania, where he took off his suit jacket and donned an apron over his shirt and tie, as an employee showed him how to dunk baskets of fries in oil, salt the fries and put them into boxes using a scoop.
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His verdict?
"It requires great expertise, actually, to do it right and to do it fast," he said at the time.
Now, he has claimed he is behind a major change to the way Coca-Cola is made.
The 79-year-old is well known for his 'make America great again' slogan, but now it appears he is turning his attentions to improving the world of soft drinks.
Posting on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, the president claimed he had introduced a new ingredient to Coca-Cola.
He said: "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."
The sugar change may come as a surprise to those who have read reports that Trump has a dozen Diet Cokes in an average day at the White House, which famously has no sugar at all.
In response to Trump’s claims, a Coca-Cola spokesperson told US outlet People: "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."
It comes after Coca-Cola Company CEO James Quincey told investors in April that the company will 'continue to make progress on sugar reduction in our beverages'.
He said the brand had reduced sugar 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'.
According to Coca-Cola’s website, the use of high-fructose corn syrup versus cane sugar depends on where the product is sold.
In countries such as Mexico and Australia the company already uses cane sugar in their products, while high-fructose corn syrup is used in the US, according to reports.
Cane sugar was used as Coca-Cola’s sweetener of choice when it began in 1886, however rising sugar prices forced it to change to corn syrup in 1984 according to Fortune.
In response to the alleged return to cane sugar, John Bode, president and chief executive of the US’s Corn Refiners Association, said in a statement: "Replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar doesn’t make sense.
"President Trump stands for American manufacturing jobs, American farmers, and reducing the trade deficit.
"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 move comes after the US’s Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr vowed to ban high-fructose corn syrup and seed oils as part of his "make America healthy again" initiative, which aims to eliminate controversial ingredients from food products.
Coca Cola has been contacted for comment.