Originally Posted by
djk7
Not sure about McD's, but in most of the US, Coke uses high fructose corn syrup rather than sugar. There have been threads about that here, but the summary is that a lot of people seek out the sugar version. For example, some Costco stores import Mexican coke and sell it at a premium. Coke marked Kosher for Passover also uses sugar. Just do an advanced search here on "Coke sugar", all dates.
I probably should have made it clear that I was asking a rhetorical question - the point being that the U.S. isn't even close to being the best in the world at the food it is most (in)famous for.
Now, if you want sriracha chili sauce all over your sashimi platter, or cilantro on your Spanish paella, then yes, the U.S. is the place to go. After all, everybody knows that pizza is much improved with pineapple on it and that drinks made with green tea powder are unpalatable without melon syrup.
What a shame that restaurants outside the U.S. can't get their own cuisines to taste just right...
(I just got a great laugh from this authentically American recipe for 'Valencian' paella)