"There is no sugar in most sodas today," said Judy Sanchez, spokeswoman for Clewiston-based U.S. Sugar Corp. "They contain high-fructose corn syrup, which is a completely different animal."

Next year the sugar industry expects to do something it hasn't done in a decade — launch a national advertising campaign touting sugar's benefits as an all-natural sweetener.

Sugar has been portrayed as the villain for much of America's obesity problem and is among the forbidden foods for low-carbohydrate dieters. Now the sugar industry is fighting back.

Melanie Miller, public relations director for the Sugar Association, a Washington-based research and lobbying group whose members include Florida's three sugar companies, said the association is searching for advertising and public relations firms to run the multimedia campaign.

"Sugar gets a bad rap all the time," Miller said. "We need to get the positive messages out. It's only 15 calories a teaspoon and makes food taste great."

The industry wrapped a 10-year campaign in 1985 that touted sugar in magazines and on television and radio.

News of the impending ad onslaught was unwelcome to nutritionist Christine Bandy, who works in Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach.

"Sugar is usually found in products that have no nutritional value at all," she said. "This country tends to overdo it with these foods anyway. Promoting it and marketing it, I am not seeing in a real healthy light."

But if the campaign portrays sugary products as something to be consumed once in a while as a treat or on special occasions, that isn't a bad thing, Bandy said.

South Florida sugar company officials said they didn't know yet what the thrust will be of the upcoming campaign, but that there's a need to get the facts out.

"We believe getting information to consumers can help them make good choices in their dietary habits," said Barbara Miedema, spokeswoman for the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, in Belle Glade. "The ad campaign alone is not going to solve the industry's problems."

Sugar consumption has been declining for the last few years. Products such as cookies and candy are being made abroad using sugar produced elsewhere.

At the same time, global trade agreements are increasing the amount of foreign sugar allowed into the country.

And sugar itself hasn't been the first choice for sweeteners, either.

"There is no sugar in most sodas today," said Judy Sanchez, spokeswoman for Clewiston-based U.S. Sugar Corp. "They contain high-fructose corn syrup, which is a completely different animal."

Officials at Florida Crystals Corp. in West Palm Beach, the third major Florida producer, did not return calls seeking comment.

Combined, the three companies produced more than 2 million tons of sugar in the 2003-04 season.