The quota system of regulating the production, importation, and marketing of sugar in the United States through 1974 was an outgrowth of Government regulation of the sugar trade dating from colonial times. Similar systems have developed in most other countries, particularly those which import sugar. The U.S. Sugar Quota System benefited domestic sugar producers by providing stable prices at favorable levels. These prices also encouraged the production and use of substitute sweeteners, particularly high fructose and glucose sirup and crystalline dextrose in various industries. But sugar is still the most widely used sweetener in the United States, although its dominant position is being increasingly threatened.