It responded to President Donald Trump’s request to use real sugar cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, commonly called liquid fructose.
President Trump did not give a clear reason. He said, “It’s just better!” He gave an ambiguous reason. In fact, President Trump only drinks diet coke.
It is not directly related, but it is implicit in its justification for the health of the people. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), who is promoting the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, points to the use of high-fructose corn syrup as the main cause of diabetes and obesity. He describes it as poison whenever he gets the chance. Kennedy sees replacing high-fructose corn syrup with natural sugar as part of the “MAHA’s victory.”
The general analysis is that replacing high-fructose corn syrup with sugarcane sugar is politically motivated. The move is aimed at winning votes in the Sugar Belt, a key candidate for next year’s midterm elections, even if the U.S. government takes a step away from the Corn Belt, the traditional support base of the Republican Party. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 99 percent of the U.S. sugarcane industry is concentrated in Florida and Louisiana. Coca-Cola used sugarcane in the first place. Then, in the 1970s, when the government imposed high tariffs on imported sugar and introduced a quota system to protect its farmers, the sugar prices of sugarcane soared, replacing it with cheaper high fructose corn syrup. According to the Wall Street Journal, Coca-Cola converted its sweetener, which is put in the “king of carbonated drinks,” into 100% liquid fructose in 1985. What is the biggest advantage of “sugar cane coke?” It is that it tastes better than “liquid fructose coke.” Actually, the fact that it tastes good in favorite foods is its biggest competitiveness.
Mexico, the world’s fifth-largest producer of sugarcane, uses traditional sugarcane sugar in its Coca-Cola. Mexican cola is widely distributed in the U.S. market and is said to be more delicious than American.
The Washington Post recently conducted a small-scale blind test to compare and evaluate the taste of two beverages containing different sweeteners. This is to see if the taste is viral.
A total of six participants participated in the experiment. Both drinks were marked only with A and B after removing any external clues. After tasting the two drinks, the participants chose a drink that suits their taste better. As a result, five out of six people correctly identified Mexican cola, with most responding that the texture is different. The clean sweetness of sugar extracted from sugar canes was said to be “less bitter and clean” compared to American products that used high fructose corn syrup. On the other hand, they said that American cola is “lightly sweet and smells like syrup,” or “it feels like something is left after swallowing.” What about health? Is there anything better than liquid fructose that is blamed for harming one’s health.
Sugarcane sugar and high fructose corn syrup have the same calories as 4 kcal per gram. The process of metabolism, which is absorbed into the body and broken down into glucose and fructose, is similar. Experts point out that excessive intake of any sugar can increase the risk of metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
Gerald Mande, a three-time senior official at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), who is currently the CEO of Nourish Science, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that focuses on addressing the nutrition crisis in the United States, told political and diplomatic media THE HILL, “If Secretary Kennedy thinks sugar is poison, as he says, both will be sugar, and both will be poison.”
“A cola is just a cola. It’s not a fruit or vegetable, is it?” Dr. Fielding-Sing, director of policy and programming at George Washington University’s International Food Research Institute, told the same outlet.
“Replacing one sugar with another will not have a significant health impact,” Darius Mojafarian, director of the Food Is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, told the WP.
“There is no evidence that the two sweeteners differ in safety,” the FDA said in an official statement.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
