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Here's how Coke using sugar instead of corn syrup could affect you

Here's how Coke using sugar instead of corn syrup could affect you

Axios3 days ago
Coca-Cola announced Tuesday that it's launching a line of drinks sweetened with U.S. cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup after President Trump spoke with company leaders.
Why it matters: The switch to cane sugar reflects the Make America Healthy Again movement's growing influence over the food industry's use of ultra-processed ingredients.
Driving the news: The MAHA movement, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is focused on removing processed ingredients such as seed oils, artificial dyes, and high-fructose corn syrup from foods.
Americans' consumption of ultra-processed foods is linked to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke in adults.
"MAHA is winning," Kennedy wrote on X in response to fast food chain Steak and Shake announcing it would sell Coca-Cola with "real cane sugar" starting Aug. 1.
Earlier this month, Kennedy cheered the U.S. dairy industry's announcement that more than 40 ice-cream makers would voluntarily stop using synthetic dyes in their scoops.
Yes, but: While cane sugar is less processed than corn syrup, they have basically the same weight gain and health effects, according to a 2022 analysis.
The American Medical Association in 2023 said there was "insufficient evidence" to restrict the use of high fructose corn syrup in foods.
Read on for an explanation on the differences between corn syrup and cane sugar:
What is high-fructose corn syrup?
High-fructose corn syrup comes from processing corn starch. When the starch is broken down, the end product is corn syrup, which is essentially 100% glucose, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
Enzymes are then added to the corn syrup to convert some of the glucose to another simple sugar called fructose. The "high" in the end result is because there's more fructose than the pure glucose in corn syrup.
How is cane sugar made?
Sugarcane is a tall perennial grass that is cut after it matures, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The cane stalks are crushed and the resulting liquid is extracted into syrup or crystallized into products like white or brown sugar.
Which one is healthier for you?
A systematic review of people consuming the two ingredients found that there were no major differences in terms of body weight, blood sugar, or insulin levels.
The study did suggest that those who consumed high-fructose corn syrup were more likely to have higher inflammation levels than those who consumed cane sugar.
How are they used?
High fructose corn syrup is predominantly used in processed and packaged goods that need to have a long shelf life because its more stable than regular sugar.
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Padilla to propose bill easing immigrant residency rules
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Padilla to propose bill easing immigrant residency rules

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We're creating AI that could surveil US citizens. And the government is in on it.
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USA Today

time27 minutes ago

  • USA Today

We're creating AI that could surveil US citizens. And the government is in on it.

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'Terrific guy': The Trump-Epstein party boy friendship lasted a decade, ended badly
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USA Today

time27 minutes ago

  • USA Today

'Terrific guy': The Trump-Epstein party boy friendship lasted a decade, ended badly

Long before the little black book, before the conspiracy theories, before one died by suicide in jail and one ascended to the White House, Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump were poster boys for '90s New York City excess. Parties. Models. Mansions. They danced with cheerleaders at Mar-a-Lago and dined with celebrities in Manhattan. Trump flew on Epstein's private jet between New York – where they lived blocks apart − and Florida, where they owned mansions 2 miles from each other. Their lives intersected over decades, with Epstein once claiming he introduced Trump to his third wife, Melania. 'Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were both horny rich guys with an eye for young models,' Michael Gross, author of the 1995 book 'Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women,' told USA TODAY. Now, their friendship plagues Trump's second term in the White House. More: Who is Ghislaine Maxwell? DOJ turns to Jeffrey Epstein's ex-partner. 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One day later, the Wall Street Journal and CNN reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump in May that he was named multiple times in the government's files on Epstein. But long before Epstein's conviction and questions about who might want his secrets buried, he and Trump were charter members of a decadent New York party scene. When Donald met Jeffrey Epstein and Trump met, it's believed, in 1990 when Epstein bought a mansion 2 miles from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club and estate. Born seven years and a borough apart in New York, Epstein was from Brooklyn and Trump from Queens. They partied hard, but neither drank alcohol. Trump was living loud in 1990. He had divorced his first wife, Ivana, with whom he had three children, and was dating model Marla Maples. Epstein was rich and single, a former high school teacher running his own financial advisory firm. Trump was known for hosting parties at the Plaza Hotel, which he owned at the time, that attracted rich men and younger women. 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I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it,' Trump told Stern. 'The girls are standing there with no clothes on, and so I sort of get away with things like that,' he said. Tasha Dixon was competing in the Miss USA pageant in 2001 in Gary, Indiana, when she, a former Miss Arizona, met Trump. He walked in, she told CNN, as contestants changed into their bikinis. The theme that year was empowering women. "Who do you complain to? He owns the pageant,' she said. As Trump approached his third marriage − and alleged affairs, which he denies, with an adult film star and a former Playboy playmate − court testimony shows his friend Epstein was abusing teenagers. Sometime in the summer of 2020, a 16-year-old Mar-a-Lago locker room assistant was recruited into Epstein's circle by Epstein's procuror and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. She would later accuse Epstein of years of sexual abuse. Virginia Giuffre died by suicide last April at the age of 41. A lenient plea deal Epstein received from Florida state and federal prosecutors in 2008 included restitution to 36 victims. A 2019 federal indictment cited "dozens" of victims. The breakup In 2003, the Wall Street Journal reported, Epstein received a leather-bound volume of tributes from friends for his 50th birthday. A lewd message in the book was attributed to Trump, the paper reported. It ended: 'Happy Birthday − and may every day be another wonderful secret.' (Trump denied writing the letter and has sued the Wall Street Journal over the report.) A year after Epstein turned 50, Trump, in his book "Trump ‒ How to Get Rich," described a call from a person he called "the mysterious Jeffrey." "As mysterious as Jeffrey is, he's one of the few people I know who can get by on just a first name," Trump wrote. "My staff never asks for a last name in his case, which in a way puts him up there with Elvis." 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