But foreign sugar cannot be imported - so companies instead use corn sweetener, which costs about 12 cents a pound.

Analysts say Archer-Daniels's profits on corn sweetener in 1994 totaled about $290 million.

By all accounts, the big British sugar company is facing a long, acrimonious battle for Staley, a leading producer of corn sweeteners.

A.D.M. wanted to acquire a competitor's capacity to make corn sweetener, and the Government said the deal would reduce competition.

The four biggest producers have 85 percent of the market for corn sweetener.

Some analysts have estimated that at least a quarter of the company's operating income comes from corn sweetener.

They switched to cheaper corn sweeteners in the 1980's.

Now, for example, 90 percent of domestic caloric soft drinks have high-fructose corn sweeteners.

Since the 1980's, most soft drink manufacturers have switched from sugar to corn sweeteners, as have most snack makers.

Nearly 10 percent of the calories Americans consume now come from corn sweeteners; the figure is 20 percent for many children.