"If the new sugar lives up to its billing, it would represent a milestone in the food business’s never-ending quest for more healthly ways to..."

[hardyweineberg]

"If the new sugar lives up to its billing, it would represent a milestone in the food business’s never-ending quest for more healthly ways to sweeten products."
Source: theindependent.co.uk

Why was "would" used with a present tense verb "lives"?
I have never seen a structure like this, and before now, I thought one has to use "would" with a verb in the past tense to show it's a tentative scenario.

 

[Tarheel]

It's not present tense. It is, in a sense, future tense.

 

[teechar]

It's called a mixed conditional structure. The first part (the one with "if") uses the first conditional (present simple), and the second part uses the second conditional (would). Mixed conditionals are quite common.