Candy is pictured during a Halloween party in 2017 in Reading, Pa. Cornflakes and yogurt, ketchup and salad dressings, sodas and sports drinks: what do they all have in common? Lots and lots of sugar.

Sugar's history is far from sweet. What we now see as a basic pantry staple used to be a rare luxury. For centuries, it was known as "white gold" because of how valuable it was. By the 17th century, ...

Food scholar Darra Goldstein has published numerous books and articles on literature, culture, art, and cuisine. She recently edited The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, an exhaustive compendium ...

Norbert Rillieux (1806-1894), widely considered to be one of the earliest chemical engineers, revolutionized sugar processing with the invention of the multiple effect evaporator under vacuum.