I've heard Pepsi and Snapple are also going to have a "real sugar" versions as well. I wonder if corn prices have increased the price of HFCS to the place sugar is less expensive, or because the public is asking for it?

-Grainlady

If I buy soda for the occasional treat I buy only kids made with cane sugar. Cost more, but it's a treat not a daily occurance.

You can often find real sugar versions that are Kosher during Passover.

Here Costco sells the cane sugar version. My DH loves it. He "rations" the bottles for a special treat.

Carol

Funny you should mention these. One of our chefs bought a case of them from Sam's for one of our classes. He iced them down and we each got to drink one and compare what we thought of them compared to ones with HFCS in them. Someone actually did a report on HFCS a couple of days before that - I was absolutely astounded at how many products contain it now.

The Mexican sugar cokes were GREAT!

I agree that HFCS is horrible, but when I did a taste test of the Dr Pepper versions, I really couldn't tell the difference in flavor. Where I grew up (just outside Temple, TX), there is a Dr Pepper bottling plant that makes Dr Pepper will cane sugar instead of HFCS, and it is one of only two plants that make this. The other one is in Dublin, Tx, and that has a very small distribution area. People will drive from Austin to Belton (just south of Temple) to get Dr Pepper made with the original recipe containing cane sugar. My mother does her grocery shopping in Temple (the closest place to find groceries in her rural area), and so we get the Temple Bottling Company Dr Pepper when we go shopping there. I only drink diet soda because I can't handle either sugar or HFCS.

Sodas are definitely better in Mexico. I used to buy Peñafiel soda when I lived in Texas, and it is made with more natural fruit juice than American sodas. My favorite flavor was toronja (grapefruit). If you can find Mexican sodas, they are a real treat. The Peñafiel brand is made with naturally sparkling mineral water from springs with that name.

Lars

Lars! Thanks for the heads-up on other Mexican sodas. We have a large Mexican population here and a couple of the lower-end (go figure) grocery stores cater to them. I'll definitely be checking them out TODAY.

I probably have a real soda once a year, only if there is nothing else available, but I would sure prefer that it be a real Coke or even better, a real root beer. There's a local company that makes the best root beer I've ever had, and they use real sugar. The Mexican Cokes and this root beer are actually refreshing in the mouth, with a very clean finish, instead of the syrupy mouth feel that we've had, and which I attribute to the HFCS.

Anyone else have a local root beer bottler near them?

Here is a link that might be useful: Sparky's Root Beer

I like Thomas Kemper Rootbeer and Jones Soda.

But I don't think they are real sugar, or are they?

The original Barq's Rootbeer was made in my hometown. In the late '70s it was sold to a couple of guys from New Orleans (one was the King of Mardi Gras last year), but it still tasted the same and was only marketed locally (in the South). They eventually sold it to the Coca-cola company. I grew up with the Barq's family and drank "real Barq's" from the old fashionied bottles. The Barq's family still lives in Biloxi. It doesn't taste the same since Coke took it over, but it's still the favorite on the Mississippi Coast. Happy Mardi Gras!

Pepsi and Mountain Dew are going to start marketing cane sugar version of their drinks. This is good news since I've read reports about mercury in products sweeten with HF corn syrup.

"WebMd Jan. 27, 2009 -- Some foods and drinks rich in high-fructose corn syrup may contain detectable levels of mercury, a new report shows.

The report, published on the web site of the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), shows detectable levels of mercury in 17 out of 55 tested products rich in high-fructose corn syrup.

But the researchers aren't telling people to avoid those products or other items containing high-fructose corn syrup, and they aren't sure what form of mercury those products contained.

The Corn Refiners Association stands by high-fructose corn syrup, calling it "safe.""

DH checked at Sam's yesterday, no cane sugar Coke here yet..... That said, I do buy both Hansen's and Jones quite often, they are both Cane Sugar based and come in an unusual variety of flavors.

I will keep looking for the big guys cane sugar Aternatives though.....

Alexa

Alexa, check the Mexican markets for it. And around here, there is a wide selection of unusual sodas at the BevMo (Beverages and More) stores, a large liquor store chain.

Sushi~Here's the Thomas Kemper

and here's Jones Soda

Cool! I'll try them on my once-a-year taste trip!

I know some of the supposedly high-end brands like Henry Weinhart use HFCS. Gotta get out those magnifying glasses for the small print!

The Coca Cola Bottling plant in Allentown, PA is one of three in the US now producing Coke using real sugar. I found mine at a Giant Food Store. The bottles say 'No artifical flavors, no preservatives added, since 1886.'

Here is a link that might be useful: Lehigh Valley Coca Cola

Boylan in N.J. makes excellent soda with cane sugar.

Here is a link that might be useful: Boylan Bottling Co.

Slightly OT, but you can thank our elected officials for this mess.

The sugar lobby woos politicians with $$$ to make sure that sugar prices stay high in the USA, much higher than the world market price of sugar; that's to protect the interests of sugar cane producers in Florida and Louisiana and beet sugar producers in the Midwest. If sugar tariffs were not in place, there would be little economic incentive to use HFCS. So the policies of our government protect a few thousand jobs in sugar production, while at the same time making it more expensive for those companies that utilize sugar in their production: soda companies, candy companies. Life Savers, Brach's and Ferrara Pan moved their production from the USA to Canada some years ago because the price of sugar was so much less there--causing a loss of several thousand jobs in candy production.

The take home lesson is that when the government makes economic decisions, it does so for political reasons first and foremost. Does anyone believe that ethanol would be subsidized as a fuel if it wasn't for the fact that Iowa is the first state to hold presidential caucuses?

And I can't wait to see what new models GM and Chrysler have to offer...poiitically designed cars...whoopee...:)