Coca-Cola has launched a U.S. version of its classic soda made with American cane sugar, following pressure from President Trump to align with his “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.
Coca-Cola told the New York Post it’s rolling out 12-ounce glass bottles of its Original Taste soda made with U.S. cane sugar in select markets. The move follows Trump’s July Truth Social post explaining how he convinced the company to use “REAL Cane Sugar.”
Several international versions of Coke, including the popular Mexican Coke, first imported to Texas in the early 2000s, use cane sugar. Fans say it gives the drink a “cleaner, sharper” taste, and blind taste tests reported by The New York Times often favor the cane sugar version.
Coca-Cola already uses cane sugar in U.S. drinks like Simply Lemonade, Gold Peak tea, and Costa coffee, though it switched to cheaper high-fructose corn syrup for its main sodas years ago. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., leading the Make America Healthy Again campaign, has condemned corn syrup as “poison.”
“Clearly it is linked to the obesity epidemic. It’s linked to the diabetes epidemic,” Kennedy said in 2023 on The Breakfast Club a radio show. “If you’re going to drink Coca-Cola, drink a Mexican Coke because they don’t have it in it.”
After Steak ‘n Shake announced it would start offering Coca-Cola with real cane sugar at its restaurants, the HHS secretary wrote in a post on X: “MAHA is winning.”
Coca-Cola’s cane sugar rollout will be gradual due to supply chain hurdles, CFO John Murphy told Bloomberg, noting glass bottling capacity must grow before nationwide distribution. Experts caution the switch won’t make the soda healthier, urging consumers to drink fewer sugary beverages.
“Our bodies aren’t going to know if that’s cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup,” said Caroline Susie, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a registered dietitian nutritionist. “We just know that it is sugar and we need to break that down.”
Coca-Cola starts selling cane sugar soda after Trump demand https://t.co/EJNbqYVuNK pic.twitter.com/KxZvGDbYMU
— New York Post (@nypost) October 22, 2025
