\u201cMy term for this is \u2018nutritionally hilarious,\u2019\u201d said Marion Nestle, one of the country\u2019s foremost nutrition experts and professor emeritus at New York University. Whether Coca-Cola contains cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, she said, it will still contain virtually the same amount of calories and lots of sugar. (Coke currently has about 10 teaspoons a 12-ounce can.) That means soda will still pose the same risks when it comes to chronic conditions<\/a> like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. \u201cIt\u2019s the kind of thing that makes nutritionists roll their eyes, because it doesn\u2019t make any difference,\u201d Nestle said. \u00a0<\/p>\n The sentiment was echoed by nutrition scientist Kevin Hall, the leading researcher on the health impacts of ultra-processed foods, who left the National Institutes of Health<\/a> earlier this year over concerns his work was being censored.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating to see the enormous political capital of the MAHA movement expended on actions like the proposed product formulation changes that have little chance of reducing prominent diet-related chronic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes,\u201d Hall said in an email. \u201cSugary sodas will not become healthy options just because they are sweetened with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t \t\t\t\t President Trump declared<\/a> on the social media platform X on Wednesday that Coca-Cola had agreed to use \u201cREAL Cane Sugar\u201d after speaking with him. \u201cThis will be a very good move by them \u2014 You\u2019ll see. It\u2019s just better!\u201d he wrote. (Trump himself is a noted Diet Coke fan \u2014 sweetened with aspartame \u2014 with his very own button to request the beverage<\/a> installed in the Oval Office.) The announcement came on the heels of the administration\u2019s announcement this week that dozens of ice cream companies have agreed to remove synthetic dyes<\/a> from their products.<\/p>\n While the largest U.S. dairy industry trade group has confirmed the move<\/a>, it\u2019s still unclear exactly what Coca-Cola has agreed to \u2014 the company declined to comment on its plans beyond the statement<\/a>, \u201cWe appreciate President Trump\u2019s enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand. More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.\u201d The soft drink titan also shared a defense<\/a> of high-fructose corn syrup in the wake of Trump\u2019s announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nutrition experts who spoke with STAT say that the MAHA movement led by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has accurately identified Americans\u2019 high consumption of ultra-processed foods<\/a> as a contributing factor to the country\u2019s high rates of chronic disease. Their issue lies with the MAHA movement\u2019s focus on solutions like removing individual ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, synthetic dyes, and seed oils from the food supply.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s rumor-based science as contrasted by real science,\u201d said Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.<\/p>\n Popkin was actually one of the nutrition experts to raise concerns<\/a> about the potential metabolic effects of high-fructose corn syrup in the early 2000s, which quickly gained traction in the mainstream media. But he said more than a dozen subsequent clinical trials found that high-fructose corn syrup is no different from cane sugar or beet sugar when it comes to metabolic markers like weight and blood glucose levels. The American Medical Association released a statement<\/a> to the same effect in 2023, noting that Americans should limit added sugars of all kinds in their diets.\u00a0<\/p>\n When it comes to MAHA\u2019s push on corn syrup, Popkin said, \u201cthe reality is that they\u2019re not improving health, although they think they are.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\tMAHA\u2019s European food envy is full of contradictions<\/a><\/p>\n Similarly, both Nestle and Popkin said that removing artificial dyes from ice cream \u2014 which Kennedy has named as his favorite food<\/a> \u2014 won\u2019t have a health impact. Most ice cream sold in grocery stores is still ultra-processed, Nestle noted.<\/p>\n \u201cIce cream is a treat,\u201d Nestle said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t pretend to be a health food. But this runs the risk of making ice cream appear to be a health food if it\u2019s now labeled \u2018no artificial colors.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n MAHA has also claimed credit <\/a>for industry shifts like the fast-food chain Steak \u2018n Shake\u2019s move to make French fries in beef tallow rather than vegetable oil, and for behemoths like Kraft Heinz and General Mills agreeing to remove artificial dyes from their products.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis particular wellness agenda seems to be about creating products that have healthy-sounding ingredients, but are fundamentally ultra-processed,\u201d Nestle said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nutrition experts say there are ways companies could reformulate ultra-processed foods that would improve public health \u2014 for example, by reducing levels of sodium. Americans consume 50% over the recommended allowance of sodium a day, an excess linked to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease<\/a>. \u201cThat would have a big impact,\u201d Nestle said. But when companies slash sodium in their products, she said, sales tend to fall \u2014 so getting them to make such a change voluntarily could be difficult.<\/p>\n Warning labels on ultra-processed foods high in sodium, added sugar, and saturated fat would also make a demonstrable impact on Americans\u2019 health, Popkin said. But so far, the MAHA movement is \u201cnot going after policy, but making these comments and statements and industry is responding because there\u2019s a whole lot of MAHA followers out there,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the reality is, the industry knows it\u2019s meaningless.\u201d<\/p>\n The MAHA movement\u2019s criticisms of ultra-processed foods aren\u2019t strictly limited to individual ingredients like dyes and corn syrup \u2014 it\u2019s planning a public awareness campaign<\/a> on the links between diets high in ultra-processed foods and diabetes, and Kennedy frequently says that \u201csugar is poison<\/a>\u201d when discussing the harms of added sugars in ultra-processed foods. The MAHA report<\/a> on children\u2019s health in May emphasized the importance of shifting toward nutrient-dense whole foods to lower rates of chronic disease. Multiple states have also embraced MAHA-inspired legislation<\/a> with measures like making soda ineligible<\/a> for food benefits.<\/p>\n The coming months will reveal whether, and how, MAHA plans to expand its efforts to change the way Americans eat. Kennedy recently said<\/a> the forthcoming U.S. dietary guidelines, to be released \u201cin the next several months,\u201d will stop \u201cthe attack on whole milk and cheese and yogurt\u201d \u2014 perhaps indicating larger shakeups to come<\/a> on current recommendations on limiting saturated fat. And a second MAHA report<\/a> focused on policy recommendations is expected in August.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes out, we\u2019ll see what it is and we\u2019ll see if they\u2019re going after real regulatory changes in ultra-processed food,\u201d Popkin said, \u201cor they\u2019re just going monkey around with this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n STAT\u2019s coverage of chronic health issues is supported by a grant from\u00a0Bloomberg Philanthropies<\/a>. Our\u00a0financial supporters<\/a>\u00a0are not involved in any decisions about our journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pop quiz: What\u2019s Coca-Cola with cane sugar and ice cream made with natural dyes? Answer: Coca-Cola and ice…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":71023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[11399,3655,210,1182,881,49697,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-71022","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-chronic-disease","9":"tag-diabetes","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-nutrition","12":"tag-public-health","13":"tag-rfk-jr","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114870913785608029","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MAHA_MILK_02-768x432.jpg\")
\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/wp-content\/themes\/stat\/images\/home\/statplus.svg\")
\n\t\t\t\tWhy MAHA wants whole milk back on the table<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MAHA_EUROPE-768x432.jpg\")
\t\t<\/p>\n