Why Coke Isn't Getting Rid of High-Fructose Corn Syrup

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, Business News, News

4.2 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When President Donald Trump posted that he'd been in talks with Coca-Cola, and that the sodamaker would soon be making Coke with cane sugar, it sent the soda world into a fizz. WSJ's Laura Cooper explains why Coca-Cola and other sodamakers originally made the switch from sugar to high-fructose corn syrup and why it would be hard to go back. Annie Minoff hosts. Further Listening:- ‘It Came out of Nowhere’: The Rise of Dr Pepper - Can Pepsi Make a Comeback?- The Fight to Kick Soda Out of Food Stamps Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Our colleague Laura Cooper covers the beverage industry.
0:08.7	And earlier this week, she joined me in the studio for a taste test.
0:13.3	In front of you, you have two beverages, two cups, actually wine glasses because we are a classy show at the journal.
0:21.6	Both of them have Coke in them.
0:23.8	One of them is made with cane sugar.
0:27.1	The other one with high fructose corn syrup.
0:29.6	Oh, it's like a wine tasting, but it's Coke.
0:31.9	Indeed.
0:32.8	Go ahead and let's start with this glass on the left.
0:35.8	All right.
0:38.7	This is definitely it. 100%. Oh, you're really confident that that's the high fructose corn syrup.
0:45.3	I'm very confident. Tell me about the taste. Um, well, it tastes like Coke.
0:51.4	It's got like some hints of vanilla in there.
0:55.1	The carbonation, there's a lot of carbonation.
0:58.0	A little spicy.
0:58.6	You can see it on the top.
1:00.1	It's got a little bite to it.
1:01.9	And just tastes very familiar.
1:05.3	All right.
1:05.6	Let's see the wine and glass on the right now.
1:07.6	All right.
1:08.8	Give that a little.
	...

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