How the sweet story of sugar shaped empires, economies, and everyday life

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by The Conversation, click this post to read the original article.

Sugar, as you know it today, wasn’t always a staple in your diet. Its origins trace back to New Guinea, where people chewed sugarcane rather than crystallized it. The technique to crystallize sugar emerged in India around 500 BC and gradually spread westward. By medieval times, sugar had reached Europe, often used like a spice due to its high cost. It wasn’t until colonization and the transatlantic slave trade that sugar became more affordable and widely available, particularly with plantations in Brazil and the Caribbean.

In the 18th century, your taste for sugar grew alongside the rising popularity of tea and coffee. British households began consuming more sugar, especially after Prime Minister William Gladstone cut a hefty sugar tax in 1874. By the 19th century, sugar was dubbed “white gold” due to its profitability and demand. France, blocked from importing Caribbean sugar, contributed to the sugar beet industry’s rise—an alternative source that now accounts for about half of Europe’s sugar production, including in the UK.

Sugar also played a key role in the emergence of global consumer products. In the late 1800s, Coca-Cola was born when Atlanta’s prohibition laws forced a sugar-based reformulation. Around the same time, milk chocolate became a global favorite thanks to Swiss innovation. These sweet inventions shaped your modern diet and preferences, becoming cultural cornerstones.

The medical impact of sugar soon sparked debate. Epidemiologists and nutritionists, such as Ancel Keys and John Yudkin, clashed over whether fat or sugar posed greater health risks. While mainstream dietary guidance long targeted fat, Yudkin warned early on about the dangers of sugar, citing links to heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Yet his warnings were dismissed by the sugar industry and largely ignored in public policy for decades.

In just 300 years, sugar transformed from a rare luxury to a global dietary constant. You now find it in much of your processed food, which, combined with its addictive properties, contributes to serious health challenges worldwide. The consequences stretch beyond your personal health to touch economic systems, public healthcare, and environmental sustainability.