Coming back to the US for a conference a few years ago we got some "fresh lemonade" type drinks at the San Francisco airport. They were so sweet they made my teeth hurt, I couldn't have more than a sip. I had a hard time believing people drink this stuff on a regular basis, but there were lots of people in the store drinking larger cups of what looked like the same drink!

Drinks like lemonade in the US are bad :( I just drink unsweetened ice tea most of the time, almost everything else you get from restaurants/fast food outlets would be way over-sweetened. Fortunately more and more place started having unsweetened ice tea. There are other drinks that can be made with minimal or no sugar but it's hit-or-miss.

I've had this experience with candy. Like Snickers and Butterfingers... They're so sweet there's a burning sensation in my mouth whenever I've tried eating them. I swear they're _much_ sweeter than they were when I was a kid. The only candy I can eat these days without the burning sensation are the relatively low sugar types of chocolate. But all the mainstream stuff is totally unappealing because it's too sweet.

I legitimately puckered and my chest felt tight when I had some drinks in SFO. Even the iced tea tasted like pure sugar. I stuck to tap water after that.