Thinking about #sucrose table #sugar today, and its impact on human civilization. Sugar is often regarded by health-conscious people as a modern, foreign, synthetic additive not used in traditional cuisines, but sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) was first domesticated by #Melanesian and #Austronesian people in #Oceania and #SEAsia about 4000 BCE, 6000 years ago, and crystalline sugar was first produced about 2500 years ago in India. About 300 years later, soy sauce was first produced in China.