When President Trump took office, he appointed Robery F. Kennedy Jr. as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. Since then, RFK Jr has made it his mission to "Make America Healthy Again" by removing petroleum-based synthetic dyes from food and pharmaceuticals and promote cooking with beef allow over seed oils.

And it's now not just RFK Jr that wants to make the changes. Donald Trump himself has announced how Coca Cola ingredients will switch from high-fructose corn syrup to cane syrup.

However, Coca Cola has yet to confirm this change.

Is Cane Sugar Better Than Corn Syrup?

High-fructose corn syrup is not only one of the Coca Cola ingredients, but it can also be found in fruit juices, salad dressings, crackers, condiments, granola bars, and more.

It's a sweetner made from corn starch. It's made by adding enzymes to regular corn syrup in order to turn some of the glucose into fructose, which makes it sweeter. It became popular in the 1970's because it's cheaper than cane sugar, easy to transport, and has a longer shelf life.

This highly processed sweetner is often criticized for its high fructose, or natural sugar found in fruits, honey, and some vegetables, and how it's metabolized. Too much of it can lead to weight gain, liver disease, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes.

But what about cane sugar?

Cane sugar is sugar made from the tropical plant, sugarcane. The stalks of the plant are crushed to extract juice, then boiled down, crystallized, and refined into white sugar.

Unlike high-fructose corn syrup, can sugar is a more traditional, less processed sweetner. It's what soda companies like Coca Cola used before switching to a cheaper alternative.

Although cane sugar is less processed, it's doesn't mean it's healthy. It's still sugar, so it has the same amount of calories and can still spike your blood sugar, however it is closer to a natural form compared to being lab-made.

Will Coca Cola Start Using Cane Sugar Again?

While President Trump has promoted cane sugar in coca cola ingredients, it's unsure of whether the company will revert to its original sugar source.

Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, writing, "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."

Coca Cola has not yet confirmed the change but did issue a statement saying, "more details on new innovative offerings within our Coca Cola product range will be shared soon."

Not everyone agrees with this sentiment though, including Eva Greenthal, senior policy scientist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

"Excess consumption of sugar from any source harms health," Greenthal said. "Swapping one type of sugar for another does nothing to make soda healthier."

She also added, "To make the US food supply healthier, the Trump administration should focus on less sugar, not different sugar."

And it's not just the health of the country that people are concerned about. John Bode, president and CEO of the Corn Refiners Association said in a statement, "President Trump stands for American manufacturing jobs, American farmers, and reducing the trade deficit. 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."