Would you like some Coke with that "corn sugar"? - How the World Works - Salon.com: The invention of ultra-cheap high fructose corn syrup changed all that. In 1985 Coke switched to a 100 percent HFCS formula, as did its major competitors. The era of the Big Gulp was suddenly upon us: "Annual soda consumption soared to 56.1 gallons -- more than 600 cans -- per person in 1998, up 30 percent from 1985..."