{"id":1579,"date":"2025-07-22T15:48:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T15:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/?p=1579"},"modified":"2025-07-22T15:50:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T15:50:58","slug":"coca%e2%80%91colas-cane-sugar-switch-a-dietitians-take","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/?p=1579","title":{"rendered":"Coca\u2011Cola\u2019s Cane Sugar Switch: A Dietitian\u2019s Take"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1579\" class=\"elementor elementor-1579\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e341a57 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e341a57\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-27ea1f63\" data-id=\"27ea1f63\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f160939 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f160939\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Coca\u2011Cola\u2019s Cane Sugar Switch: A Dietitian\u2019s Take<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f92c151 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-featured-image elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"f92c151\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-featured-image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-7.png?fit=300%2C157&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-1580\" alt=\"photos with 4 bottles of coca-cola\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-7.png?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-7.png?resize=300%2C157&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-7.png?resize=1024%2C536&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-7.png?resize=768%2C402&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3bcd5e71 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3bcd5e71\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3><b>What\u2019s the Buzz?<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About a week ago, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/food\/2025\/07\/16\/trump-coca-cola-cane-sugar-corn-syrup\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Trump announced<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that Coca\u2011Cola has agreed to switch from high\u2011fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to cane sugar in its U.S. products\u2014echoing advocacy from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d initiative. Coke hasn\u2019t officially confirmed the move yet, so hold that thought.\u00a0 As a dietitian, I wanted to take a look at what this change might do for the overall health of Americans if it actually goes through.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first thing to look at is if cane sugar is \u201chealthier\u201d than HFCS.\u00a0 This is going to get a little science-y.\u00a0 Let&#8217;s walk through it together.\u00a0 We need to know what cane sugar looks like compared to HFCS:<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Cane sugar (aka sucrose)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> = 50% glucose + 50% fructose.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>HFCS<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> = ~45% glucose + 55% fructose\u00a0 (see, it\u2019s higher in fructose than cane sugar).<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Same monosaccharides, just slightly different amounts.\u00a0 Glucose is the body&#8217;s main source of energy.\u00a0 All cells use it to function.\u00a0 We like glucose.\u00a0 Fructose can also be used as energy, but it\u2019s a little trickier to use than glucose, we need the liver to process it first.\u00a0 Cane sugar (sucrose) and HFCS are pretty similar in chemical make up and our bodies know what to do when we consume them.\u00a0 So if they\u2019re not much different, maybe it\u2019s the amount?<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sugar can be found naturally in foods (like grains, fruits, veggies, and dairy), or it can be added (like honey, sugar, brown sugar, molasses, HFCS).\u00a0 Research is finding it\u2019s not the sugar found in foods, it\u2019s not the type of sugar, but how much is ADDED to something.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t worry, there are definitely recommendations for added sugar.\u00a0 The first is from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/food\/nutrition-facts-label\/added-sugars-nutrition-facts-label\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Dietary Guidelines<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 They recommend keeping added sugar to &lt;10% of your total calories.\u00a0 So, for a 2,000 calorie diet, that would be 200 calories from added sugar, or 50 grams of added sugar per day (since there are 4 calories per gram).\u00a0 The<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart.org\/en\/healthy-living\/healthy-eating\/eat-smart\/sugar\/added-sugars\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> American Heart Association<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (AHA) is a little stricter.\u00a0 They recommend no more than 25 grams of added sugar for women and 36 grams of added sugar for men per day.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For context, the average adult consumes about 68 grams of added sugar a day.\u00a0 A typical 12\u2011oz Coke contains about 39\u202fg of sugar\u2014a full day\u2019s AHA limit in a single can, and still 80% of the recommendation from The Dietary Guidelines.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is the change to cane sugar reducing the amount of added sugar in sodas?\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 So, as it stands, changing to cane sugar doesn\u2019t actually make the drink healthier since the body processes the HFCS and the cane sugar essentially the same way.\u00a0 Nor is it decreasing the amount of sugar in the drink.<\/span><\/p><h3><b>Are there any drawbacks to changing to cane sugar?<\/b><\/h3><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consumer prices might go up: Cane sugar costs about three times more than HFCS, so a nationwide switch could significantly raise production costs.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/cokes-shift-cane-sugar-would-be-expensive-hurt-us-farmers-2025-07-17\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reuters<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It could hurt farmers:\u00a0 Dropping the use of HFCS in soda could lead to a drop in the demand for corn, hurting US farmers.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/cokes-shift-cane-sugar-would-be-expensive-hurt-us-farmers-2025-07-17\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reuters<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hypothetically, talk of soda with cane sugar is being promoted as \u201chealthier\u201d when in fact it\u2019s really a neutral swap.\u00a0 But if people think it\u2019s healthier, would they lean towards drinking more?<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/li><\/ul><h3><b>Are there any positives to making the switch?<\/b><\/h3><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hypothetically, the increased price in soda due to the more expensive cane sugar would lead to less people buying it?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some people say cane sugar tastes better in Coke than HFCS.\u00a0 I dunno, I\u2019m not a Coke drinker.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><h2><b>Final Take: Help, Hurt, or Nothing?<\/b><\/h2><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\ud83d\udfe2 <\/span><b>Help<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Only <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">if<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sugar content is reduced, which is at stands, it is not.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\ud83d\udd34 <\/span><b>Hurt<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Economically\u2014higher costs for consumers, distressed U.S. corn farmers, complicated supply chains.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u26aa <\/span><b>Nothing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: In terms of health\u2014if it ends up purely a sweetener swap, it will be business as usual: same sugar load, same health concerns.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><h2><b>My Take:<\/b><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It doesn\u2019t seem like this swap is going to do anything for the health of the country.\u00a0 (just like changing the food dyes to \u201cnatural\u201d).\u00a0 You need to look at the bigger picture.<\/span><\/p><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Read the label<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014regardless of sweetener type, high intake of any added sugar is linked to chronic disease (like diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver, obesity, etc).\u00a0 The nutrition label has been redesigned to include total sugar vs added sugar.\u00a0 Start checking to see what your favorite foods have in terms of added sugar.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Healthier swaps<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014water, sparkling water, herbal tea, or naturally infused waters remain the best choices for hydration, not sweetened beverages.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Moderation is key<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; having foods with added sugar (because it\u2019s not just soda- think ice cream, cookies, coffee drinks, candy, etc) can be part of a well balanced diet- but you need something to balance them with- fruits, veggies, whole grains, dairy.\u00a0 Having less processed foods allows for fun foods too!\u00a0 It\u2019s not all or nothing.<\/span><\/li><\/ol><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A true win would be if Coca\u2011Cola used this pivot as a springboard to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reduce<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sugar content. Otherwise, you\u2019re paying more for the same amount of risk and calories.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stay Happy, Stay Healthy<\/span><\/p><p><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-643\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/image-7.png?resize=137%2C105&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"137\" height=\"105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/image-7.png?w=1650&amp;ssl=1 1650w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/image-7.png?resize=300%2C231&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/image-7.png?resize=1024%2C789&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/image-7.png?resize=768%2C592&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/image-7.png?resize=1536%2C1184&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/image-7.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 137px) 100vw, 137px\" \/><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This blog was written by Chris Henigan MS, RD, LDN, co-founder of Simple Start Nutrition.\u00a0 For more blog posts and nutrition information follow @simplestartnutrition on Instagram and Facebook.\u00a0 Also feel free to contact us, by visiting our website (<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">simplestartnutrition.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) to schedule an appointment to discuss your nutrition related needs.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c780887 elementor-post-navigation-borders-yes elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-navigation\" data-id=\"c780887\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-navigation.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post-navigation\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post-navigation__prev elementor-post-navigation__link\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/?p=1573\" rel=\"prev\"><span class=\"post-navigation__arrow-wrapper post-navigation__arrow-prev\"><i class=\"fa fa-angle-left\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Prev<\/span><\/span><span class=\"elementor-post-navigation__link__prev\"><span class=\"post-navigation__prev--label\">Previous<\/span><span class=\"post-navigation__prev--title\">No Booze, No Problem: A Dietitian\u2019s view on Mocktails<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post-navigation__separator-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post-navigation__separator\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post-navigation__next elementor-post-navigation__link\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/?p=1588\" rel=\"next\"><span class=\"elementor-post-navigation__link__next\"><span class=\"post-navigation__next--label\">Next<\/span><span class=\"post-navigation__next--title\">A Dietitian\u2019s View on the Nutrition Trend, Fibermaxxing<\/span><\/span><span class=\"post-navigation__arrow-wrapper post-navigation__arrow-next\"><i class=\"fa fa-angle-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Next<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What\u2019s the Buzz? About a week ago, President Trump announced that Coca\u2011Cola has agreed to switch from high\u2011fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to cane sugar in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-7.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1579"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1587,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579\/revisions\/1587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}