President Donald Trump’s desire to have Coca-Cola use cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup in its products could cost jobs, a corn industry group warned on Wednesday.
Trump suggested Wednesday that Coca-Cola had agreed to use “REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States.” However, Coca-Cola has not publicly confirmed it will move to use cane sugar.
The company did reply to a comment related to the post, saying, “All Coca-Cola brand products are wholesome beverages manufactured in compliance with the federal law.”
Trump’s announcement prompted the Corn Refiners Association to warn that the move could have unintended consequences.
“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,” John Bode, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement on the group’s website.
A switch to cane sugar could result in an economic hit to Iowa, which is the largest producer of corn in the U.S. Cane sugar is largely produced in southern states including Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, but Brazil is the largest producer in the world.
In the U.S., Coke is typically sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup, a decision shaped in large part by agricultural subsidies to the corn industry and its cheaper cost. Some international versions of the company’s signature beverage use cane sugar.
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Coca-Cola additionally pushed back on claims that high fructose corn syrup is worse for the body than sugar.
“The name sounds complex, but high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) – which we use to sweeten some of our beverages – is actually just a sweetener made from corn. It’s safe; it has about the same number of calories per serving as table sugar and is metabolized in a similar way by your body,” the company said. “The American Medical Association has confirmed that HFCS is no more likely to contribute to obesity than table sugar or other full-calorie sweeteners.”