I'm pretty sure it's because the use of absurd amounts of high fructose corn syrup. There's 39g (can't confirm, I got it from Google) of sugar in a 12oz (340ml) can. US soda is pretty much just carbonated high fructose corn syrup water with a bit of flavoring. There's probably other significant differences too since the US has barely the minimum food safety laws.

[–] dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

Can confirm: HFCS makes everything taste awful and I feel awful afterwards. It also doesn't satisfy my hunger/thirst the way cane sugar does, which is very concerning.

I only ever buy CocaCola (on special occasions) when it's imported from Mexico, since that's still made with cane sugar. This is nuts since it 1) costs more 2) is an American company whose product is being shipped back to us 3) is a superior product but has to be made elsewhere for "reasons."

[–] frostysauce@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

As if the US is the only country drinking flavored HFCS... 🙄

[–] clutchtwopointzero@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Quick googling shows that China, HK, Singapore, Malaysia, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Australia, UK, etc use real sugar