Dr. Brain brings up an important point. In examining the differences of products I need to look beyond the size and packaging and also look for differences in ingredients. If I can trust my mastery of Dutch enough to decipher the ingredients list for the Benelux version of Coca Cola, it looks like it does use sugar instead of corn syrup.
Of course, I wouldn't trust my knowledge of Dutch to be able to read signs in English. I was at a one of those take out places that is so popular here where you can buy hamburgers and various related mystery products from vending machines. They didn't have a coke vending machine, so I had to go to the counter to order one. I was pretty happy with my request (very terse, don't say too much or they will notice the incredibly bad accent), but then the guy asked whether I wanted a can or a bottle. These were very long, complicated words that didn't match up to anything recognizable in English. So I just stood there with a blank look on my face until I just clumsily blurted out, "English?".
I'm not sure I can really taste the difference yet. Yes, it does taste different, but I don't know if it is enough of a difference that cannot be explained by differences in the size of the container or the temperature at which it is served (things don't seemed to be chilled as cold as they are in the States). But I will continue to drink until I notice a difference.
