Five glass bottles of Coca-Cola.

By Chris Spiker From Daily Voice

Coca-Cola's new cane-sugar version of its signature soda is starting to roll out in the US, but the beverage is running into major production hurdles, according to reports.

Chief financial officer John Murphy told Bloomberg News on Tuesday, Oct. 21, that Coca-Cola has started distributing Coke made with US cane sugar. The move was previously announced back in July.

Murphy said limited domestic supply and bottling capacity are slowing expansion.

"It's going to be a measured rollout," he told Bloomberg. "There is only a certain amount of cane sugar available in the United States."

Coca-Cola is trying to replicate what it offers through "Mexican Coke," a real sugar version in glass bottles sold at major retailers like BJs, Costco, Target, and Walmart.

"If you look at the success of Mexican Coke in the United States, it's a combination of the product and the package and we're very keen to offer that same combination using American cane sugar," said Murphy.

Glass bottles of Coca-Cola in a cooler.

Glass bottles of Coca-Cola in a cooler.

Unsplash - David Trinks

Glass bottling requires separate production lines from aluminum cans, further limiting capacity. Coca-Cola plans a phased release in the fall, before scaling up in 2026.

Coca-Cola has relied on high fructose corn syrup since the 1980s because it's cheaper than sugar. According to the US Department of Agriculture, cane sugar makes up about 30% of the nation's sugar supply, with the rest coming from sugar beets, along with imports from Mexico and other countries. 

The new Coke version comes after pressure from President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to switch from high fructose corn syrup. Trump has been a longtime fan of the aspartame-sweetened Diet Coke and has a button on his Oval Office desk to demand cans delivered by White House staff.

Kennedy has argued that high fructose corn syrup is responsible for higher rates of obesity and chronic illnesses. Health experts say the new formula doesn't make the beverage much healthier because of the high sugar content.

Eva Greenthal, senior policy scientist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said the Trump administration should focus on reducing sugar overall, not replacing it.

"Excess consumption of sugar from any source harms health," Greenthal told CNN in July. "What makes soda unhealthy is that it's liquid sugar, providing empty calories with no nutritional benefits. Swapping one type of sugar for another does nothing to make soda healthier."

Dr. Walter C. Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said governments can take other steps to improve public health.

"If we are serious about reducing the adverse effects of sugar-sweetened soda, there are many steps we can take, including warning labels on these beverages, limiting sales in schools and other public places, and taxing, then using these taxes to support health and nutrition programs for children," Dr. Willett said.

The World Health Organization recommends limiting daily sugar intake to less than 25 grams, which is a little more than half the sugar in a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola.