Comment by ajross
5 years ago
Both beets and sugar cane are old world plants, and maize-based corn syrup wasn't used as a sweetener until the 20th century. It's true that refined sugar is terrible for dental health, but it didn't come from the americas.
It wasn’t known that beets could be exploited for sugar until the 16th century. Sugar cane was not known in Europe (outside Muslim-ruled areas of Spain) until post-Colombian times. In antiquity, the sole common means of sweetening food in Europe was honey, and later dulce de leche.
Or extracts from sweet fruit like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powidl
Or, something more Roman, lead! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate