Rishi Sunak insisted he has cut down to drinking one Coke a week as he visited a Coca-Cola bottling plant.
The Prime Minister previously revealed he had a particular taste for Coca-Cola, describing himself as a “total Coke addict” in an interview with two school children in 2019, and that it left him with seven fillings.
On Tuesday during a visit to the plant in Co Antrim as part of a trip to Northern Ireland to talk about the Windsor Framework, he joked he was in his happy place.
I’m very much in my happy place— Rishi Sunak
There were fridges of the drink across the plant in Lisburn, where the Prime Minister, flanked by two towers of Coke cans, spoke with business leaders in the region about his new deal with the EU over issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol and trading.
“It’s great to be here, I’m very much in my happy place,” he said.
“I have somehow resisted having any Coke so far, although the fridges are everywhere. I have resisted thus far, but I might treat myself to one on the way out.”
He added: “Putting aside that I love it, and actually the Secretary of State (Chris Heaton-Harris) is also a massive fan of the Coca-Cola company, so we have that in common.
“But this is the example of a business that is interested in how things move north-south.
“This plant serves the entire island of Ireland, is investing, responsible for hundreds of jobs. Chris and I have spent a lot of time talking to lots of businesses like this, and as much as we needed to fix all the issues there were with things going east and west, and we’ve done that.
“We have managed to protect the thing that was important for businesses like this, which is ensuring no hard border north/south, and ensuring that access to not only the Republic but also the EU’s market is also protected.
“There are many businesses for whom that is important, and our job is to get the balance right.”
In the original footage, which has resurfaced online several times over the past couple of years, Mr Sunak told the two schoolboys he was a “total Coke addict” and preferred Mexican Coke because it is made with “cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup”.
After being asked if he preferred Coke or Pepsi, he said at the time: “One of those things that not many people know about me, so I collect Coca-Cola things already. Yeh, I’m a Coke addict. Total Coke addict. Coca-Cola addict, just for the record, just to be totally clear.
“I have seven fillings to show for it… I genuinely do have seven fillings because I got through a lot of stuff when I was young, which is very bad, so people should not… don’t do that. But I am only allowed one a week now. So, but I’m an enormous Coca-Cola fan.
“Yes, I won’t drink, no Diet Coke. No Coke Zero. Never any Pepsi.”
