A can of coke has almost 10 sugar cubes, it's pretty silly. The only winning move is not to play.
We know that sodium consumption can be drastically reduced by adding salt at table rather than adding it directly to food. Why doesn't this happen with sugar? Why not make desserts that take advantage of the fact that surface sugar will make it seem to be sweeter than it actually is and just have table sugar?
And dessert basically goes the same way -- I honestly can't even imagine what something like a cherry pie would be if it were cooked without sugar, and then you were expected to dump sugar on top. But it would not be good.
The reason a chef "knows this" is because if you judged their food with or without salt, the salt one would win, so in the end they're required to add waaay to much salt, when the tongue just needs those surface crystals.
Healthier to salt after, and therefore cook your own food.
It does not, and that can (and has been!) be empirically shown. Salt gets into the food and changes both chemical properties and how it responds to cooking. Pre-seasoned meats, for example, are more tender.
If you prefer to salt at the table, by all means, eat your food however you like it, but it is simply false to claim that there's no difference or "chefs just add too much salt".
It's not. Unless you have hypertension or some other medical condition around salt, there's no reason to restrict your salt intake.
For the average person, the level of salt in restaurant food has no unhealthy effects whatsoever. Amounts in excess of your daily requirement are simply excreted in urine.
Many athletes especially in very hot climates need high sodium, sometimes up to 8 grams a day.
1) Care about their customers' health, which they have no reason to
2) Be willing to risk brand damage by exposing how much sugar is in their garbage
3) Be willing to "burden" users with the task of adding sugar which isn't "convenient"
It's far easier to just feed people garbage while you're making $$$
Some people like rituals with their addiction.
Seeing the sugar being added may create the perception of more sweetness than there is. (But also guilt, so it can go both ways).
I'm aware that aspartame isn't ideal, but I'm not brave enough to give up sweet-tasting beverages yet. :-)