Sugar consumption by the English working poor grew in. stages. It was used first with tea and then in rich puddings,. which by the nineteenth century became a dessert course to an. end meal ( Mintz, in 1986 ). Sugar was combined with wheat and flour in sweetened baked goods; by the end of the 19th century. sugar became a relatively cheap source of calories and tended. to supplement and replace more expensive grains, fruits,. vegetables, meat and dairy products