Wayne,
 >>Unfortunately for the poor sugar producers, there is a
huge increase in alternative sweeteners not people consuming less products
that could contain sugar.<<
 I think you've hit it right on the head. I just read an article the other 
day (could it have been a link from someone on the list?) that said the real 
culprit is high fructose corn syrup. Also, there are now things like 
NutriSweet and Sucralose that have taken the market by storm. My guess is 
that the consumption of sweeteners has increased dramatically from the 102 
lbs per person per year in 1972 as stated in that article.
 I'd be very interested to know what the actual estimates are these days.
 Mike W.