Trump's plan to improve Coca-Cola by making it more Mexican hits an immediate snag

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: msn/The Independent

12h


President Donald Trump’s push for Coca-Cola to make its signature soda in the U.S. using cane sugar has already hit a snag, according to a new report.

Trump, a known fan of Diet Coke, announced in July that he spoke with Coca-Cola about “using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so.” American Coke is typically made with high-fructose corn syrup, while Mexican Coke — which is imported from Mexico and packaged in glass bottles — uses cane sugar.

Coca-Cola started officially importing Mexican Coke to the U.S. in 2005, and it now has a cult-like following on social media, The New York Times reports.

Coca-Cola Chief Financial Officer John Murphy told Bloomberg the company has started to produce Coke made with American cane sugar, but that it will only be available through a limited roll-out at first, due to supply chain issues. “It’s going to be a measured roll-out,” Murphy said. “There is only a certain amount of cane sugar available in the United States.”

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/food-and-drink/beverages/trump-s-plan-to-improve-coca-cola-by-making-it-more-mexican-hits-an-immediate-snag/ar-AA1OUVe3

---

REFERENCES

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143497324
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143497437
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143500761

[Irish_Dem]

1. Coke made with cane sugar has a completely different taste.

It is terrible.

[hueymahl]

2. You are crazy, lol

I love mexican coke. Can barely drink the corn syrup stuff.

Mexican coke has the original taste before the whole "new coke" debacle of the 80's (or was it 90's? I forget).

[Irish_Dem]

6. Yes of course. All addictions are crazy.

The only good coke is fountain coke.
The rest is crap.

And the only good fountain coke is from McDonald's.
The taste is very different from all the others.

Perfect combination of high carbonation, sweetness, coke taste and sting as
it goes down the throat.

[IronLionZion]

21. McDonalds has special Coke?

Why would their coke be different than anywhere else? Serious question

[unblock]

26. Fountains don't just pour sodas, they create a product from raw ingredients.

The raw ingredients matter and the mix matters.

McDonald's uses a bit more syrup than most restaurants, chills the syrup, and stores the syrup in tanks, not plastic bags.

They also have good filtration for the water. Some restaurants just use tap water, so obviously the local water taste will be a factor in the taste of sodas made from it.

[Irish_Dem]

59. This makes sense. And the McDonald carbonation strength and quantity is amazing.

Yes it is all very very noticeable to me.

Some other restaurant fountains have undrinkable coke.
I just throw it away after a few sips.

Every now and then I get a rogue McDonalds coke and it is bad.
They have not filled the carbonation cartridge or they scrimped on the syrup.
Or something happened to the syrup.

In the city where I live, I have actually ranked the quality of the cokes
for each McDonald restaurant in my vicinity.

The kids in my family think I should be a coke influencer and start
my own coke rating blog. Ha.

[Angleae]

46. McDonalds is allowed to change the ratio of syrup to carbonated water (and they do).

[Irish_Dem]

61. Yes I can tell which McD franchise screws around like this.

Makes me mad......

I also know the ones with the perfect ratio.

[Irish_Dem]

58. I don't know. All I know is that the coke tastes different depending upon source.

Cans, bottles, fountains.

McDonald fountain tastes the best by far.

[popsdenver]

36. Hey I_D

A little side story to the sugar thing, as I remember it.............

Back during the WBush years there was some wealthy guy in Florida that owned THE monopoly cane sugar plantation here in the U.S., that supplied most of the U.S. with cane sugar. The rest came from other countries...............
The owner of that Cane Sugar Plantation complained to W, (actually Cheney/Rumsfeld/Etc, that he had to much price competition from the cane sugar coming from other countries.......Soooooo, the Cheney/Rummy CABAL slapped a substantial 20% tariff on all "imported" cane sugar.......

The guy was then able to raise his price up to just below the foreign imports, and sell his entire output at a greatly increased net profit.
All of the U.S. Corporations, that used cane sugar were outraged.........and as a result, the biggest U.S. Candy manufacturers moved their Corporation and manufacturing to Canada, so they wouldn't get hit with that additional 20% cost for their major ingredient.....

[Irish_Dem]

62. Amazing isn't it? The pay for play and corruption.

[LiberalArkie]

10. Some of the Mexican Cokes I have drunk have a "dirty" kind of taste, like a little dirt got caught in it.

And some bottles are perfect. Neither ones have the after taste of the regular cokes though.

The HFCS never bothered me at first. But then the corn started being bred to ignore Round-up and the bred again to produce more ethanol. I can't remember how many changes have been made to the genetic structure of corn.

I doubt very seriously that the HFCS has ever been long term tested for medical safety since the very first time it was introduced though. As that would cost a lot of money. Yea, originally the FDA certified it as ok, but now.

I thought about that years ago when in China a baby formula was killing the babies. The company producing it found a chemical that tested as "Protein" but was really a cheaper heavy metal. It was listed as protein on the label but wasn't, of course. Definitely not protein genetically.

But this is not based on any facts, just my Aspie way of over thinking everything.

[Ilsa]

47. If I remember correctly, the CEO of the baby formula

company, or whomever made the informed decision, was sentenced to death for hurting so many babies.

[kiri]

53. melamine

"I thought about that years ago when in China a baby formula was killing the babies. The company producing it found a chemical that tested as "Protein" but was really a cheaper heavy metal. It was listed as protein on the label but wasn't, of course. Definitely not protein genetically."

That was melamine. no metals. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine
triamino triazine

[LiberalArkie]

55. It has been a while, but that was what my old memory remembered. But it may have been the first report.

[mwooldri]

16. Exactly! It's why I can stomach UK Coca Cola.

The US version just tastes "nasty". But then I'm a Diet/Zero drinker generally. I'll only drink full sugar soft drinks on rare occasions.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

33. Yep, the "New Coke" was a dirty trick by CocaCola to slip in HFCS...

... because it is/was cheaper than real cane sugar and in the few months of games they played, it brainwashed the unknowing into not even realizing they had been hoodwinked.

Also, so "we don't have to buy any sugar from Cuba", that the Repubs love to adhere to. Nevermind that the cane sugar industry (two or three families) in Florida are a big reason for the toxic algae blooms and other environmental issues in Florida. All that fertilizer for one thing.

PS: I only buy Mexican Coke with real cane sugar. HFCS take two to three times longer for your liver to process/get rid of. No wonder everyone knows someone with or dead from liver cancer, especially if you mix HFCS soft drinks with booze. Double whammy on your liver.... for years or decades.

[ShazzieB]

42. Interesting.

"No wonder everyone knows someone with or dead from liver cancer, especially if you mix HFCS soft drinks with booze."

The connection between HFCS and liver cancer was news to me! I know HFCS is problematic, but non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) Is the main risk I was aware of. Hower, some googling I did just now says that NAFLD is a risk factor for developing liver cancer, along with other factors like cirrhosis and hepatitis B or C. From what I've been reading, it sounds like any condition that makes the liver less healthy increases the risk for liver cancer. So I learned something new today.

I have to challenge the assertion that "everyone knows someone with or dead from liver cancer," though. I honestly don't know a single person with or dead from liver cancer, at least not that I'm aware of.If you didn't mean that to be taken literally, I apologize for doing so. I have a tendency to be too literal minded at times, to a sometimes annoying(even to me) extent!

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

70. I personally know, back from my drinking days...

... several of the "Coke and booze" drinkers died of liver cancer.

BTW, as I stated, I avoid HFCS like the plague. And my yearly and bi-yearly phyisicals and blood work always comes out great. My PSA 0.12, and my blood sugar A1C stays in the safe range. Despite being borderline Type 2 diabetic. I only take Metformin. Quit drinking January 2011.

[sl8]

43. Weeks after bottling the sucrose has become glucose and fructose, the same as in HFCS.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4285619/

[...]

Ventura et al.4 found no inconsistencies in HFCS-sweetened beverages, but did report discrepancies between types of sugars claimed on product labels and those detected in sucrose-sweetened beverages. However, their sucrose concern was almost certainly a failure to consider acid-catalyzed sucrose inversion to free fructose and glucose, a well-characterized phenomenon known to occur in the low-pH environment of most carbonated beverages (and a host of other acidic foods and beverages). Thus, concern about types of sugars in HFCS- and sucrose-sweetened beverages appears to be based on incomplete understanding of sugars chemistry in carbonated beverages.

[...]

Also, see post 38.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3551711

[FreeState]

49. Yep - both sides of the spectrum are equally misinformed here

There have been informal blind taste tests comparing the Coca‑Cola made with cane sugar (or imported “Mexican Coke”) versus the U.S. version sweetened with high‐fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The evidence is mixed, the methodology often weak, and strong scientific claims about ‘sugar tastes better than HFCS in Coke’ are not firmly established.

As you pointed out they are basically the same. There is no meaningful metabolic difference in moderate doses.

[ShazzieB]

37. "New Coke" was the 80s.

Mid 80s, to be exact. I'll never forget it. Like a lot of people, we hated the new stuff. People were up in arms about it all over the country. My husband was stockpiling "old" Coke, trying to amass as big of a supply as possible before they pulled it off the market. It was such a relief when Coke announced they weren't going to do that after all. Those were crazy times!

I've seen Coke in glass bottles in the grocery store, but never paid much attention to it since we only drink the sugar free stuff these days. I had no idea that stuff was made with cane sugar and imported from Mexico!

[SupportSanity]

51. There is a Mexican burrito place not too far away from me. They have Mexican coke. It's great

It's more expensive than American coca cola.

Also, the glass bottles are very thin, so it's even more expensive for less.

But still, I love it.

[TlalocW]

54. It's weird. The best Coke I've had AFTER Mexican Coke

Was regular USA Coke, but it was in a plastic sphere that became a Christmas Tree ornament after you were done with it. Even the screw-off lid had a flat section with a hole in it that you could put a hook through. I always wondered if pressurizing it in a sphere could change the taste.

I remember in college walking into the Physics Department, and 3 or 4 professors were angrily arguing with each other around a dry board filled with equations. I scooted around to see what they were arguing about. There was a drawing of a Coke bottle next to the equations. They were arguing if a spot on the bottom of the glass in the middle was under the same pressure as a spot further out on the radius of the bottom.

"This is why you guys get paid the big bucks, huh?" Fortunately, they laughed.

[Polybius]

56. You're both crazy :)

It tastes the same.

[Irish_Dem]

63. You probably don't want to hear my criticisms of Dairy Queen Ice Cream from store to store.

Serving size varies a great deal from store to store as does the temperature of the ice cream. The ice cream has to be the right temperature to taste good. If it is not cold enough it is not good.

[markodochartaigh]

4. It does have a different taste.

But I prefer cane sugar's taste. Probably since it is what I grew up on. However a lot of the cane sugar in the US is produced in South Florida by the reich-wing Fanjul brothers.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2025/10/16/fanjul-family-sugar-barons-worth-4-billion-donald-trump-coca-cola/

[Irish_Dem]

8. Cane sugar ruins the experience.

Makes it undrinkable.

And it has to be fountain coke.
From McDonald's.

Perfect combination of coke taste, sweetness and high carbonation.
Burns your throat as it goes down.

All the other coke is crap.

[markodochartaigh]

9. Well, I prefer root beer anyway.

https://youtube.com/shorts/1Hn9svv-znA?si=mFIMwaGnUbCTM-ld

[Irish_Dem]

13. Yes root beer is nice. Not addictive however?

[sleroy49]

41. I hardly drink soda, but ...

when I do it's usually a Mexican Coca-Cola. It tastes much better than the US version.

[Irish_Dem]

60. Food is personal preference. To each their own.

Yes I know people who swear by the Mexican Coke.
At least it is in a glass bottle, which means it tastes better than in a can or plastic.

[FakeNoose]

66. Most Americans under 50 have never tried "old" Coke with real cane sugar

I can remember the "old" version of Coke ... it was popular in my family because my Mom, my Aunt and my Grandpa were addicted to it. I loved it too, and it was way better than the HFCS ("new" Coke) version that they brought out in the early 80s. Also I remember that the old Diet Coke was so terrible that people wouldn't drink it. My Grandpa was told by his doctor that he couldn't drink the regular "old" Coke (because of diabetes) so he had to switch to Diet Coke. He HATED the stuff.

When "new" Coke came out with the high-fructose corn syrup, Americans slowly switched over to that. I guess I did too, since the "old" sugar-cane Coke was no longer available. But nowadays I drink Coke Zero almost exclusively

[Irish_Dem]

67. I think the old old coke was actually made with real cocaine?

We could write a book about this stuff.

[FakeNoose]

68. It was an ingredient at one time, but it was removed long ago

I'm too lazy to look it up, but I think they banned coca leaves back in the 1920s? I remember reading that cocaine or coca leaf extract used to be given out in medical prescriptions, etc. but that was before it was ruled a narcotic.

[Irish_Dem]

69. Coke was made with cocaine from coca leaves until 1903.

It is still made with coca leaves, but cocaine free, so they say!

[JBTaurus83]

3. I've gotta say

The cane sugar is better. Why in the hell does a soda company need to listen to the rantings of a demented old cow though? Apologies to cows.

[Javaman]

5. the real news is the orange asshole is bullying a corporation.

no fan of coke or corporations but lets not get lost in the weeds over the stupidity of sweeteners.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. And the corporation is bending the knee

asking how high should they jump. And when told, has tripped over obstacles unforeseen by the extortionist that the extorted knew would be there, but ignored them in their zeal to be obedient.

[SpankMe]

39. Why do corps bend the knee to Trump so easily?

What power does he have over them?

Seems whenever a Dem administration even discussed a change to a regulation or product that would cost a company a few cents per unit - for legitimate safety or health reasons - companies would unleash lawsuits, publicity campaigns and armies of lobbyists to counter it.

These days, they'll make changes that border on upheaval to their whole operation just because Trump "politely asked".

Something is seriously wrong. What don't we know? I'm really nervous about this. Are companies resigning to some scenario where Trump is in office permanently?

[BumRushDaShow]

44. I think that many of them get to some "steady state" existence

and something like "fighting" becomes a "distraction". So they are used to "taking care of it" and moving back to their "status quo", albeit brain dead type of operation.

What this tells me is that all of the bullshit spouted about them striving to be "nimble and agile" to deal with this type of "intrusion" into their businesses, is just bullshit.

Weird Al described what they are entrenched in and how it eventually plays out -

[popsdenver]

48. Just add this to the list

of low flow faucets, shower heads, and toilets that take 15-20 flushings that Trump has tantrums about, rather than the SERIOUS SHIT a President should be dealing with, and the MEDIA SHOULD BE REPORTING ABOUT............

Besides, The Corporations are running the government these days, pleased as hell that all the Regulatory Agencies and Laws are being thrown out.

Any day, I am expecting the Republican Party, the Republican Congress, and the entire Republican owned/'operated Media, will re-name the USA....*The United Corporations of America*,

and the Republican U.S. Supreme Court Justices will gladly approve....

[BumRushDaShow]

52. That famous monlogue in the film "Network" nailed it 50 years ago!

[slightlv]

28. He'll have them making the cane sugar Coke

Just for him... gotta be sure there's enough to slake his thirst, after all.

[BumRushDaShow]

45. HE doesn't even drink that

He supposedly drinks Diet Coke (which uses aspartame as a sweetener).

[multigraincracker]

7. How is the taste using Michigan beet sugar?

[wolfie001]

14. Probably the same

I question humans sometimes.

[angrycaveman]

11. No coke is the best coke

I was a 12 pack a day diet coke drinker 15 years ago and went cold turkey by switching to Lacroix sparkling water. I think I tried a Mexican coke a few years back and it's impossible to drink, too sweet. Don't miss that crap at all.

[wolfie001]

15. I drink 1-2 Diet Cokes per month

The rest is water with a drop of sugar free sweetener (store-brand Mio) or just plain. No way am I wasting calories on any beverage. Maybe an occasional beer or glass or wine. 65 years old and have been doing this for about 10 years. Stay healthy!

[BumRushDaShow]

22. Pepsi!

I don't drink soda much anymore but do have some "mini" size (7.5 oz) cans around in the fridge.

[tanyev]

17. But King Donald proclaimed that it would happen, so it did happen.

Reality is immaterial.


😒

[llmart]

18. King Donald should be suing the company...

since it's very apparent to everyone by looking at him that Diet Coke certainly doesn't aid in weight loss.

[GiqueCee]

19. Trump can't keep his ugly snout...

... out of other people's business. Demanding that Coke alter its secret recipe to satisfy his whims is an obscene intrusion into a corporation's proprietary procedures. And they can't very well call it "Diet" if it's packed with sugar.

[Auggie]

20. This should be make American corn farmers happy ...

not.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

23. No coke. Pepsi.

[twodogsbarking]

29. I will always miss Gilda. Belushi too but Gilda was so wonderful in every way. Thanks.

[hoosierspud]

24. Shouldn't he be presidenting? N/t

[chouchou]

25. I was upset this morning, thinking about what Orange-Nut-Job has done to OUR Whitehouse...

...but, now the world has straightened itself. This President is worried about a fuckin' Coke.

[unblock]

27. My theory is that the glass bottle vs aluminum can makes more of a difference than sugar vs. hfcs

[twodogsbarking]

30. Adjusting the carbonization levels changes the taste. More addiction.

[Raven123]

31. Coke? Don't tell Rubio. He and Hegseth will order a military strike

They are looking for targets. Who cares about facts.

[appleannie1]

32. Both sugar and cane sugar are unhealthy. I don't drink any soda so I could care less.

[twodogsbarking]

34. Mescaline would be a good additive. Real magic. It's the surreal thing. Better thanAI.

[North Coast Lawyer]

35. Either way YUK!

Soda just generally sucks. I just stick to coffee or unsweetened Ice tea

[sl8]

38. Why does Mexican Coke taste different than American Coke (it's not the sugar type)

This seemed like a good time to repost this. Basically, there's no differences in the types of sugar present in the Coke some weeks after the soda is bottled, regardless of whether it was made with cane sugar or HFCS (any sucrose used becomes free fructose and glucose). There are some other differences in the ingredients (e.g., salt or sodium) other than the sugar used that might account for some taste differences.

==================

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4285619/

[...]

Ventura et al.4 found no inconsistencies in HFCS-sweetened beverages, but did report discrepancies between types of sugars claimed on product labels and those detected in sucrose-sweetened beverages. However, their sucrose concern was almost certainly a failure to consider acid-catalyzed sucrose inversion to free fructose and glucose, a well-characterized phenomenon known to occur in the low-pH environment of most carbonated beverages (and a host of other acidic foods and beverages). Thus, concern about types of sugars in HFCS- and sucrose-sweetened beverages appears to be based on incomplete understanding of sugars chemistry in carbonated beverages.

[...]

9:55 min.

Everyone is Wrong About Mexican Coke ( Even ‪@johnnyharris )

Reactions
Dec 11 2024

A 2011 paper found that Mexican Coke – which is supposed to be sweetened with cane sugar – contained no cane sugar. Instead, the paper found plenty of glucose and fructose: the main ingredients in high fructose corn syrup. Could Coke be lying to us all? Or is there another, even stranger explanation?

Correction: 0:51 Cu2O is copper(I) oxide, not copper(II) oxid

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[...]

List of sources provided at link.

[Aussie105]

65. The Coke thing is a distraction.

From the No Kings movement.

Trump's obsession with that is a distraction from the Epstein files.

Which in turn is a distraction from what Trump is doing to America.
There is a whole list of terrible things - including tariffs, that ballroom, deportations, etc.

Folks, we are being played!

On topic:

Sugar of any sort in large, repeated doses is bad for you.
Know any diabetics in your family tree?
If so, start looking at the sugar content of what you eat. And drink. The stuff is everywhere!

[LudwigPastorius]

40. LOL I thought Republicans were all about the free market.

Why is the the supposed-to-be president of the united states getting involved with where a soda pop is made and what's in it?

Meanwhile, the government is shut down and millions of people are about to lose their healthcare.

Why doesn't Trump just leave this kind of shit up to his pet Kennedy? (I can see it now, "New Whale Juice Coke. It's cetaceously delicious!" )

[Cheezoholic]

50. WHO GIVES A FUCK!!

My Dawg we've got more important stuff to worry about. This story is like feeding Goldfish

[Polybius]

57. I thought Trump was anti-Mexican anything n/t

[Rhiannon12866]

64. One more issue that is totally beyond his jurisdiction

How many times did Eisenhower, Johnson or Obama concern themselves with what Americans were drinking?? Once again, the welfare of the country and the people is not even on his list.

[OrwellwasRight]

71. Agree there is a meaningful difference between can sugar Coke and HFCS coke, but even more important:

Coke in plastic bottle is nasty. If it comes in a can, it is meaningfully better -- and this goes for Coke Zero or any soda, as far as I'm concerned. I only drink Coke Zero these days.