Sunak cola-veried by old video clip. UK Chancellor admitting to a ‘coke addiction’ must have been a dampener

It is not often that a person in a prominent post admits to being addicted to anything, much less coke, with or without a capital C. Maybe a sugar high induced by the generous amount of sweetener in his preferred refreshment — Coca-Cola — is what made UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak blurt out his ‘addiction’ two years ago to a bunch of school children. But the resurfacing of this admission on social media just before he presented his second budget last week must have left an embarrassed Sunak craving for a few stiff gulps of the aforementioned beverage, though he had been quick back then in clarifying that he only meant the soft drink, not the hard drug. Of course, this inadvertent endorsement may have created a fizz in the cola company. Meanwhile, his elucidation of Coke’s different sweetening sources must have been very educative for the schoolkids.

Unfortunately, he was not really up to date on facts when he said the cola brand uses cane sugar only in Mexico. It is, indeed, true that in the US (where the British-born Sunak attended university), the sweetener is corn syrup. But Coke uses cane sugar in other countries too — including the UK, apparently. After seven fillings in his teeth, maybe it is best that he continues to think his Coke is only available imported from Mexico and is, therefore, to be quaffed in moderation.