Sugar is a preservative, so is salt. You need some of both to cure meat. Too much of either is of course a bad idea.
Not sure about necessary, but it is absolutely part of traditional food preservation for all kinds of food. Sugar is supposed to aid in drawing out water and help balance the saltiness.
The earth is slowly frying on the long journey to the black hole. You know, the thing that eats planets. So you wanna know the end, deep fried earth. That's it. That's what this has all been about.