As far as I know 'white' cider is made from fermented apple mush and then the resultant apple 'wine' is part-distilled, filtered and concentrated and then watered back down to the correct strength for street drinkers. It's basically the same method as making neutral spirit from apples but there's no actual apple taste in the result, that's just a post-dilution flavouring. You could make it with any other neutral spirit but I suspect you can't call the result 'cider.'
I think non-brewed condiment (acetic acid and caramel colouring) is a tradition, it was when I was a lad. They probably invented it in the war to get around vinegar shortages and Hitler was a known hoarder. He loved pickles, did the Führer.
What does make me angry is cheap brown sauce, especially when cafes have obviously refilled HP bottles with it. Seriously, how much money do they save on not buying HP and everyone knows that the only brown sauce that matters.