Nothing tastes as good as it used to, now that HCFS is used - soda, candy, cake, you name it. Hershey’s is nasty now that they use no real sugar, and don’t get me started on Hostess products.
I worked in the food industry for over 10 years, on the manufacturing side. HCFS is used because it’s *sweeter* than sugar, and food makers know that the sweeter food is, the more people will buy it - and HCFS is cheap, because of our Federal subsidies. So it’s no surprised all food is loaded with it. I went lo carb years ago, and got in the habit of reading food labels - HCFS is in every thing, or it seems like it. Even deli meat is cured with it.
Luckily, i prefer the taste of diet sodas, so diet Dr. Pepper is fine with me, as is diet Coke - and in moderation. My drink of choice is coffee, and I’m fine with plain old soda water with ice on hot days - maybe throw some Crystal Lite in for fun.
I also tend to favor savory and peppery over sweet, so I don’t miss all of the cloyingly over-sweet food everyone seems to like.
I'm not sure what you mean by "peppery", but if you like hot spicy snacks, give this place a try:
The Spontaneous Combustion Ground Habanero is very versatile and adds some nice heat and flavor to just about anything. The Ass Kickin' Snack Mix on this page is very addictive, and the Ass Kickin' Peanuts on the same page are quite good too.
I modified this recipe from Emeril Lagasse to use chopped Ass Kickin' Peanuts instead of pecan pieces, and it turned out great! Chicken gets done, but is still moist, and the peanuts add a nice amount of heat.
Sorry to get off topic...
There’s a theory that New Coke was a blind to introduce HFCS into Coke with few complaints. The thinking is that people would be so glad to have the old formula back, they wouldn’t notice the sugar had been replaced. Don’t know if it’s tinfoil stuff or has merit.