[dnautics]

real coke is not standard in the US because sugar is difficult to import. Most explanations for this center around the cuban Fanjul family - which has captured congress to maintain a sugar tariff against importing sugar from every country except for the dominican republic, where their refineries are.

Hawaii no longer produces sugar cane, it's not economical (neither is pineapple; golf and tourism have taken over) and northern sugar beets only produce white sugar, not molasses.

HFCS is the "cheapest alternative" because its production is effectively subsidized by congress as well - from corn tariffs, etc. To a certain degree the evolution of HFCS as a sweetener can also be traced to prohibition, when corn mash could not be used for whiskey and alternative uses for the high carbohydrate content of corn were explored and subsidized.

[speeder]

Corn subsidies are from even earlier than prohibition, someone here on HN posted once a detailed article about this subject, seemly the first laws about sugars are from 1700s

[fusiongyro]

Yeah. The article might be making a good point, but with such a large, distracting, and loaded analogy standing in the doorway, getting to the meat became a little insufferable.