Coca-Cola pleases Trump and launches a new 'Diet' version

Coca-Cola has confirmed that it will launch a new autumn version of the famous soft drink with cane sugar. US president, Donald Trump, had anticipated the news by claiming that he had convinced the company to replace the high-fructose corn syrup with "real cane sugar". The beverage giant's CEO, James Quincey, confirmed the decision to launch a "sweetened with US cane sugar" offering this autumn as part of its product range. This was revealed by CNN.

"Coca-Cola's core recipe will not change. We will continue to use much of the corn syrup we use now," reassured the US giant, which added in a statement: "This variation is designed to complement the core product range and offer a wider choice for every occasion and preference." CEO Quincey admitted that President Trump's enthusiasm for the brand and his 'suggestions' were instrumental in the decision to launch the new 'light' option. The President of the United States is a regular Diet Coke drinker, drinking about 12 cans a day, writes The Guardian, which reveals the curious installation of a red 'Diet Coke' button near his desk, which he 'can press to summon a staff member with the drink'.

Coca-Cola produced in the United States is made with high-fructose corn syrup, an ingredient that the Trump administration's Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., harshly opposed during his tenure, calling it a 'formula to make you obese and diabetic'. Yet, according to health experts, replacing cane sugar with corn syrup would not reduce any risk to human health. 'To make the US food chain healthier, the Trump administration should focus on reducing sugar, not different sugars,' Eva Greenthal, a researcher at the Center for science in the public interest, a non-profit consumer advocacy organisation, told CNN.

Although sugar consumption in the US is higher than domestic cane sugar production, Quincey assured that Coca-Cola 'has enough' to launch the line. "Over time, if there is more demand, they will plant more acres but we are confident that supply will not be an issue," he said.

 The reasons that would have convinced the historic brand to use corn syrup over sugar would be mainly economic: in the United States, in fact, the immense production of corn enjoys substantial agricultural subsidies that make it cheaper than classic sugar. The corn industry did not like the tycoon's statements, writes the Washington Post.