Coca-Cola rolling out new Coke with cane sugar

Coca-Cola is rolling out 12-ounce glass bottles of its eponymous soda using cane sugar as the sweetener instead of high-fructose corn syrup.

The bottles offer consumers “a classic and timeless way to enjoy their Coca-Cola Original Taste made with U.S. cane sugar,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson told the New York Post. The spokesperson did not specify which U.S. markets would be getting the cane-sugar Coke first.

President Trump had called in July for Coca-Cola to switch to cane sugar, writing on Truth Social that “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!”

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has targeted high-fructose corn syrup as a “formula” for making consumers obese and diabetic.

The rollout of the cane sugar product will be limited at first due to supply constraints.

“It’s going to be a measured rollout. There is only a certain amount of cane sugar available in the United States,” Coca-Cola Chief Financial Officer John Murphy told Bloomberg News.

The use of glass bottles is also a limiting factor. The imported “Mexican Coke” currently available in some stores also uses cane sugar and comes in glass bottles.

Mr. Murphy said that “if you look at the success of Mexican Coke in the United States, it’s a combination of the product and the package and we’re very keen to offer that same combination using American cane sugar.”