If we did have any major soda brands of our own they've probably all been either taken over or competed into bankruptcy / asset-stripping by American companies!
One very popular brand that disappeared years ago was 'Corona', making a variety of carbonated fruit-flavoured drinks sold in glass bottles. The price included a refundable deposit to encourage returning the empties.
"Soda" here really refers to carbonated water only, used as a spirits diluent; not to fizzy drinks as a whole. While "candy" is a particular form of what we call generally, "sweets" or more formally, "confectionery".
A "good" snack would be something like fruit, nuts or perhaps some type of oatmeal bar, but very many Britons are sweet-toothed and between us we do eat far more sweets, biscuits and sticky cakes than are really good for us! And yes, guilty as charged, having just washed down two shortbread biscuits with a mug of tea containing a teaspoon of sugar...
One thing that does help us is the rise of the own- or contract- brand versions of popular cereals, sauces and the like, sold by the discount supermarkets. They are often cheaper, but more to the point hold far less of the needless sugar and salt than do the "big-name" brands sharing the same shelves.
