To most of us the only important property of sugar is its sweetness, but to the two huge companies which dominate Britain's sugar industry it means power, profit and jobs. Tate and Lyle dominated the British sugar scene until we joined the Common Market. Since then it has suffered a drastic reversal of fortunes, and power has shifted to home-grown beet sugar and the British Sugar Corporation. This year Tate and Lyle has grasped an opportunity to fight back, and the two are locked in a private battle to decide who is to dominate Britain's sugar in the future. Judith Hann and Kieran Prendi ville report on the fierce in-fighting and on some of the likely victims in this struggle.