FWIW, they're brined in a solution containing sugar, it's not like there's sugar sprinkled on them. Very little of it makes it into the final product and in my experience brined fries aren't perceptibly sweet in an obvious way. It assists with browning and a crunchy exterior.

There are some other variations, like blanching the potatoes with vinegar, or freezing the potatoes overnight between frying. The idea is to make them crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

But, in any other situation if mayo is involved I'm grossed out to the point of puking. Even when I just smell the mayo (from the same brand) someone is putting on their plate of vegetables or whatever.

The southern US used to produce a lot of sugar. Before refrigeration it was heavily used as a preservative.

So there's a big market that expects things to have a lot of sugar in them.

Europeans would absolutely eat sugar in the same volumes if it were as cheap there as it is in America. As with most of the cultural differences between the regions, a lot of it comes down to economics: if gas were cheap in Europe, they'd also drive big SUVs; if land were as cheap in Europe, they'd have McMansions; etc.

£0.65/kg in Tesco in the UK, 7.5kr/kg ($1.20) in Føtex in Denmark, but $1.80/kg at Walmart. Corn syrup at Walmart is more expensive, $2 a pint, but presumably cheaper in bulk packaging. (Last time I was in the USA, I saw an entire freight train of tank cars full of HFCS.)

(You'll also note that plenty of rich Europeans prefer large "normal" cars, like Audis, BMWs, Mercedes etc, and a nice apartment in the middle of a city.)

BBQ sauce is full of sugar. Ketchup too. People dip their fries in ice cream. Chocolate dipped pretzels work on the same principle. As does candied bacon and apple grilled cheese. Your Thanksgiving Honeybaked Ham is glazed in a sweet sauce. Turkey and cranberry sauce are a match made in heaven. Bacon and maple syrup were practically made for each other.

For example, this pasta sauce has sugar in the American version (https://www.classico.com/product/00041129077023/italian-saus...) but not the Canadian one (https://www.kraftwhatscooking.ca/brands/classico/product/cla...). The funniest thing about it is that the Canadian version still says "Product of USA" on the jar, they just cut out the sugar for that market.

Some of the local foods in the US also have off the charts levels of sweetness, such as southern sweet tea and sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. Bread and pizzas also tend to be on the sweeter side in the US.

Sugar is not uncommon in commercial pasta sauce, even in Canada.

> That's super reductionist... [list of American foods (or foods that aren't american but are extremely popular there, as in ketchup) with sugar added to it]

You didn't do much to dispell the idea that this is an American thing.

Maybe salted caramel pralines. But sour and sweet is a common flavour trope in much of the world. e.g. lemon + sugar e.g. in cannoli; tamarind and cane sugar in SE Asia and Mexican recipes; Chinotto.

But after a few days in America I wasn't that surprised. It was just another thing with added sugar for no reason.

That is not normal, and it isn't fair to extrapolate your single experience to be so.

I've had hotel breakfasts in 48 states. Nobody puts sugar on the sausages.

You probably had pancakes on the plate and some of the sugar got on the sausages during sprinkling.