Coca-Cola
PepsiCo is planning to highlight what will no longer be in its potato or tortilla chips - artificial colors or flavors - when it re-launches its Lay's and Tostitos brands later this year, executives said on Thursday. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said Coca-Cola will start using cane sugar in its beverages in the U.S., a dietary preference of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. Both Pepsi and Coke use high-fructose corn syrup for their sodas, which is generally more cost-effective.
The overhaul for the company's top-selling snack brands comes as U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushes Americans to eat "whole foods" and pressures manufacturers to ditch dyes. U.S. food makers have been announcing plans to remove dyes from their products and introduce new ones without the colors under pressure from Kennedy and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) social movement backing him.
"We're trying to elevate the real food perception of Lay's. If you think about the simplest and most natural snack, it is a potato chip; it's a potato, it's oil, and it's a little bit of salt—the most simple, no artificial ingredients," said CEO Ramon Laguarta in a call with investors.
The company also said it was expanding use of avocado and olive oil across its brands, rather than the canola or soybean oil it uses. The MAHA movement has questioned the health benefits of certain food oils.
In April, PepsiCo said it planned to migrate its entire portfolio to natural colors, or give consumers the option to have a product without a synthetic dye. Its Cheetos snacks and Gatorade drinks rely on synthetic dyes for their bright hues.
It already offers Lay’s and Doritos without artificial colors or flavors under its Simply segment.
A possible move by Coca-Cola, and other beverage and food industries, to use cane sugar instead of corn syrup as a sweetener would be difficult and expensive to implement, while mostly negative for farmers in the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Coca-Cola had agreed to use cane sugar in its beverages in the country after his discussions with the maker of the top soda pop brand.
The company already sells Coke made from cane sugar in other markets, including Mexico, and some U.S. grocery stores carry glass bottles with cane sugar labeled "Mexican" Coke. In response to Trump's comment, Coca-Cola said "more details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.”
Around 400 million bushels of corn is used annually to make corn syrup for drinks and other food products, representing around 2.5 per cent of U.S. corn production, according to U.S. government data.
The U.S. produces around 3.6 million metric tons of cane sugar per year, half of that in Trump's home state of Florida, compared with around 7.3 million tons of corn syrup. Trump's ongoing trade wars, however, would make it difficult to cover the deficit, sugar analyst Michael McDougall said. "It will most likely come from Brazil," he said, referring to the world's top cane sugar producer, "but Trump just hit Brazil with a 50 per cent import tariff."
FAQs
Q1. Who is US Health Secretary?
A1. US Health Secretary is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Q2. What do we know about corn syrup?
A2. Around 400 million bushels of corn is used annually to make corn syrup for drinks and other food products, representing around 2.5 per cent of U.S. corn production, according to U.S. government data.
PepsiCo-Lay's Rebranding?
The overhaul for the company's top-selling snack brands comes as U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushes Americans to eat "whole foods" and pressures manufacturers to ditch dyes. U.S. food makers have been announcing plans to remove dyes from their products and introduce new ones without the colors under pressure from Kennedy and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) social movement backing him.
"We're trying to elevate the real food perception of Lay's. If you think about the simplest and most natural snack, it is a potato chip; it's a potato, it's oil, and it's a little bit of salt—the most simple, no artificial ingredients," said CEO Ramon Laguarta in a call with investors.
The company also said it was expanding use of avocado and olive oil across its brands, rather than the canola or soybean oil it uses. The MAHA movement has questioned the health benefits of certain food oils.
In April, PepsiCo said it planned to migrate its entire portfolio to natural colors, or give consumers the option to have a product without a synthetic dye. Its Cheetos snacks and Gatorade drinks rely on synthetic dyes for their bright hues.
It already offers Lay’s and Doritos without artificial colors or flavors under its Simply segment.
Coca-Cola Coke
A possible move by Coca-Cola, and other beverage and food industries, to use cane sugar instead of corn syrup as a sweetener would be difficult and expensive to implement, while mostly negative for farmers in the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Coca-Cola had agreed to use cane sugar in its beverages in the country after his discussions with the maker of the top soda pop brand.
The company already sells Coke made from cane sugar in other markets, including Mexico, and some U.S. grocery stores carry glass bottles with cane sugar labeled "Mexican" Coke. In response to Trump's comment, Coca-Cola said "more details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.”
Around 400 million bushels of corn is used annually to make corn syrup for drinks and other food products, representing around 2.5 per cent of U.S. corn production, according to U.S. government data.
The U.S. produces around 3.6 million metric tons of cane sugar per year, half of that in Trump's home state of Florida, compared with around 7.3 million tons of corn syrup. Trump's ongoing trade wars, however, would make it difficult to cover the deficit, sugar analyst Michael McDougall said. "It will most likely come from Brazil," he said, referring to the world's top cane sugar producer, "but Trump just hit Brazil with a 50 per cent import tariff."
FAQs
Q1. Who is US Health Secretary?
A1. US Health Secretary is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Q2. What do we know about corn syrup?
A2. Around 400 million bushels of corn is used annually to make corn syrup for drinks and other food products, representing around 2.5 per cent of U.S. corn production, according to U.S. government data.