Chili beans do contain a bit of sugar, but the ones we buy (from Aldi) have only 2g per serving, and you're not going to be eating nearly a serving in this soup so I look at it like the "1g sugar/serving condiment rule." The juice from the canned chili beans adds a lot of good flavor to this soup without having to get out half the spices in your cupboard, so keep that in mind if you omit them and use a different type of bean instead. I was going for quick and easy.
Corn is allowed in occasional small amounts in a THM:E setting for flavor. 1 cup is stretched over a huge pot of soup here, so you're only getting 1 T. or less per serving. I do like the little bit of sweetness it adds.
Molasses is allowed in small amounts (1/4 tsp. per serving) for flavor on the THM plan. Obviously one teaspoon is stretched over a lot of servings in this recipe.