Weill Cornell Drugs cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Port weighs in on President Donald Trump’s price range cuts slashing billion in HHS funding, China quickly closing the hole in medical analysis and well being tech innovation combating cancers.
Changing high-fructose corn syrup with cane sugar might come at a value, in accordance with business consultants.
Bulk high-fructose corn syrup value about $0.35 per pound for 2025, solely rising from $0.27 in 2015, and remaining pretty near this worth up to now few years, in accordance with information from the U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA). As compared, the worth of refined white sugar is $1.01, which is up considerably from $0.61 in 2015.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump relayed that Coca-Cola agreed to make use of “real” cane sugar in Coke bought in the US.
“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,” Trump wrote on Fact Social. “I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!”
Coca-Cola has not confirmed whether or not it’s making this swap. FOX Enterprise reached out to Coca-Cola for remark.
Within the Nineteen Eighties, the beverage large swapped cane sugar, which got here with excessive tariffs, for high-fructose corn syrup. Excessive-fructose corn syrup was the cheaper various as a consequence of corn farming subsidies.
Regardless of such reward, consultants say there are monetary penalties of the swap to cane sugar for the patron in addition to farmers.
TRUMP SUCCESSFULLY CONVINCES COCA-COLA TO BRING BACK ‘REAL’ CANE SUGAR IN US DRINKS: ‘IT’S JUST BETTER!’
The primary situation, in accordance with Bryan Le, a meals scientist and principal meals guide at Mendocino Meals Consulting, is that there’s considerably extra corn out there within the U.S. in comparison with cane sugar.
A farmer inspects corn forward of a harvest in Crawfordsville, Arkansas, US, on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. (Brad Vest/Bloomberg through Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
Corn represents the No. 1 crop produced within the U.S., with the overwhelming majority of states producing it. This implies it the 850 billion kilos of corn produced annually can simply and cheaply be transformed to corn syrup, Le mentioned.
In the meantime, three states – Texas, Florida and Louisiana – produce 8 billion kilos of cane sugar annually. The remaining sources of cane sugar are from Mexico, which is dealing with tariffs.
GENERAL MILLS LATEST US FOOD GIANT PULLING ARTIFICIAL DYES FROM PRODUCTS
One other situation that drives up the price of cane sugar is that the ingredient “requires more extensive processing and energy to crystallize, filter and transform it into a white product,” in accordance with Le.
“It is much less complex of a process to produce high-fructose corn syrup from many of the possible low-cost inputs available from the corn industry,” he added.
Luggage of Sysco Corp. cane sugar sit stacked on the firm’s distribution facility in Des Plaines, Illinois, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg through Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
In the meantime, the Corn Refiners Affiliation (CRA), argued that there could be extreme financial implications if the business eradicated high-fructose corn syrup, which the group says has been “a foundational ingredient in the U.S. food supply for nearly half a century.”
The affiliation mentioned that if high-fructose corn syrup was fully eradicated it will slash corn costs by as much as $0.34 per bushel, wiping out $5.1 billion in income to farms.
“The resulting economic shockwave would lead to rural job losses and significant economic consequences to communities across the country,” the affiliation wrote in a July report.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
The corn refining demand loss from HFCS, glucose, dextrose and starch might end in short-term losses of $13.9 billion, with losses ultimately reaching between $5.2 billion and $7.5 billion yearly, in accordance with the group, which highlighted that this is able to harm native economies, “especially in regions anchored by corn refineries, where farmers stand to lose $0.25 to $0.50 per bushel in price premiums alone.”
Two-liter bottles of Coca-Cola soda are displayed at a Costco Wholesale retailer on April 27, 2025 in San Diego, California. ((Photograph by Kevin Carter/Getty Photographs) / Getty Photographs)
Whereas it stays to be seen what Coca-Cola will do, Arun Sundaram, senior fairness analyst at CFRA Analysis, advised FOX Enterprise that it is extra possible that the corporate would launch a brand new product line that includes cane sugar instead of corn syrup, quite than pulling its core lineup, which makes use of corn syrup, from cabinets.
“A cane sugar variant would likely carry a premium price, given the higher cost of natural ingredients. Matching current price points would require a significant increase in U.S. production or imports of cane sugar, a scenario that seems unlikely in the near term, especially with existing tariffs on key exporters like Brazil,” he mentioned.
