The only reason high fructose corn syrup has significant market share is because (in the U.S.) it is cheaper than sugar. The only reason it is cheaper than sugar is because of government "price supports" and other intervention. It's all laid out on the Dept. of Agriculture website:
https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops...

"The U.S. sugar program uses price supports, domestic marketing allotments, and tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) to influence the amount of sugar available to the U.S. market. The program supports U.S. sugar prices above comparable levels in the world market."

In other countries (and increasingly in the U.S.) sugar is the preferred sweetener. That's why Pepsi now offers a popular version sweetened with sugar instead of HFCS, and why Coca-Cola imported from Mexico is also gaining popularity.

If the U.S. restores a free market in sugar, this whole issue will go away. As it should.

Come on, people have been selling snake oil since the First Snake. So what? Big Food is not degrading the free market; they are reveling in it. The free market does allow people to make stupid choices. Moreover, I would wager silver dollars against FRNs that General Mills' Vanilla Chex is not to be found in the cupboard of many Gulchers. Maybe we should ask. But, I also expect that a lot Gulchers eat beef. Any warnings there?