Coca-Cola satisfies Trump and launches a new "Diet" version

Coca-Cola has confirmed it will launch a new version of its popular soft drink with cane sugar this fall . US President Donald Trump had anticipated the news, claiming he had convinced the company to replace high-fructose corn syrup with "real cane sugar." The soft drink giant's CEO, James Quincey , confirmed the decision to launch a "cane sugar-sweetened" version of its product lineup this fall. CNN reports.

"The core Coca-Cola recipe will not change. We will continue to use much of the same corn syrup as we do now," the US giant reassured the company, adding in a statement: "This change 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 US president is a regular consumer of Diet Coke , drinking around 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 Trump Administration 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 risks to human health. "To make the US food supply healthier, the Trump administration should focus on reducing sugar, not on different sugars," Eva Greenthal, a senior researcher at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, told CNN.

Although sugar consumption in the United States exceeds 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 a problem," he said.

The reasons that allegedly convinced the historic brand to use corn syrup over sugar are primarily economic: in the United States, the immense corn production benefits from significant agricultural subsidies, making it cheaper than traditional sugar. The corn industry didn't appreciate the tycoon's statements, the Washington Post reports.