Is Coke with cane sugar really healthier? MAHA's claims are missing the point. | Opinion
The potential difference in health impact between cane sugar and corn syrup is minor when compared with the well-established risks of excessive consumption of sugar.
- Coca-Cola is reintroducing cane sugar to some U.S. products, purportedly influenced by President Trump.
- While some consumers perceive taste differences between cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the health impacts of excessive sugar consumption outweigh the differences between the two.
- Cost, technical advantages and national interests likely drove the initial switch to HFCS in sodas.
- The body metabolizes fructose differently than glucose, potentially leading to increased fat accumulation in the liver.
Our favorite soda is being made great again. Or is it?
Early in my career, I was puzzled when a lab colleague asked me to bring back a few cans of Coke from my trip home to Brazil. I soon learned that sodas in the United States are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) instead of cane sugar, and that many people miss the original flavor of sugar-sweetened versions.
What I’ve learned about sweeteners since then feels especially relevant now, as Coca-Cola’s decision to reintroduce cane sugar into at least one of its American-sold products, allegedly prompted by President Donald Trump’s encouragement, has reignited discussion over what goes into our sodas.
Cane sugar vs. artificial sweeteners
While sucrose, the chemical name for cane sugar, could be the most common sweetener in our kitchens, many other substances also taste sweet to us.
These include glucose, fructose and intensely sweet compounds like saccharin (a synthetic sweetener), steviol glycosides (extracted from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana) and even ultrasweet proteins.
One of the most intriguing of those proteins is brazzein, my personal favorite, which was discovered in the West African plant Pentadiplandra brazzeana and is now produced at scale by engineered microbes in large fermentation tanks.
Some of these substances are packed with calories, while others are virtually calorie-free. The way our bodies metabolize them varies widely.
Corn syrup provides soda companies with advantages
Coca-Cola’s reintroduction of cane sugar in its products line is a big deal, not just because it affects a multibillion dollar market, but also because beverages operate in an intensely competitive market space with razor-thin margins, where even a few extra cents per can carry real weight.
Cost, technical advantages and national interests might explain why soda manufacturers switched to corn syrup.
The technical advantages to using HFCS versus cane sugar include the level of sweetness. You can pack a lot of sweetness into HFCS because it is more soluble in water than cane sugar, and it is often easier for the industry to manage syrups versus powders.
There is also a strategic advantage for the U.S. economy. With the help of tariffs imposed on imported sugar in the late 1970s, adoption of HFCS allowed replacing sugar imports with a U.S.-grown and -produced alternative.
This explains why the industry made the switch, but does soda sweetened with HFCS taste the same? And is sugar really any healthier than HFCS?
Even though the sweetness level of the final product can be adjusted to be exactly the same, some consumers notice slight differences in taste and mouth feel when HFCS replaces sugar cane in beverages.
Some say that the cane sugar version is “crisper,” or that the HFCS version tastes more “syrupy,” while others will either not notice the change or quickly get used to it.
However, beyond the perception in our mouths, our bodies handle these sugars in different ways. After we swallow products containing sucrose, our body breaks each molecule into one molecule of glucose and one of fructose.
Is cane sugar healthier? Excessive consumption of any sugar is a health risk.
Glucose is one of the most important sources of energy for our body, essential for the functioning of our brain, which might explain why we are hardwired to crave sweets so much.
Fructose, however, is almost solely metabolized in our livers, and because it isn’t as readily consumed as an energy source, it may saturate liver capacities and lead to more fat accumulation.
Overconsumption of either of these sugars increases likelihood of obesity and fatty liver disease, ultimately leading to type 2 diabetes and other severe health problems.
The bottom line is simple: The potential difference in health impact between cane sugar and HFCS is minor when compared with the well-established risks of excessive consumption of sugar.
Both are added sugars that contribute to the growing burden of metabolic disease when consumed in excess.
Hopefully, the discussion around corn syrup versus cane sugar won’t lead us to lose sight of the importance of reducing overall sugar consumption − perhaps by opting for the diet versions of our favorite sodas, as President Trump has.
Bruno Xavier is a food safety and product development expert who oversees the manufacturing and regulatory review of more than 2,000 products annually as associate director and thermal processing authority at the Cornell Food Venture Center.