SUGAR, SIRUP, CONFECTIONERY, AND HONEY.
SUGAR.
The term “sugar” is applied by common consent to the pure sugar
commercially prepared from the sugar cane and the sugar beet. These
two kinds of sugar are sometimes designated by their own name, as, for
instance, the purchaser will ask for cane sugar or beet sugar. When no
other name appears the term sugar is applied as above.
In Europe the principal sugar used is that derived from the sugar beet.
In the United States the principal sugar is that derived from the sugar
cane. Notable quantities of sugar are also found in commerce derived
from the maple tree, a small quantity from sorghum, and in Asia a
considerable quantity is made from the palm.
Chemically, sugar belongs to the class of bodies known as sucrose or
saccharose and is a compound in a pure state consisting solely of
carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, typical of that class of foods of which
starch is the most important member, known as carbohydrates. The
elements mentioned are combined in sugar in the proportion of 12 parts
of carbon, 22 of hydrogen, and 11 of oxygen.
The quantity of sugar consumed by the people of the United States
is very large. Excluding molasses, honey, and sirups the quantity
consumed in the United States in the year ending December 31, 1905, was
2,632,216 tons. There should be added to this the total quantity of
sugar found in the articles of diet which are so common in this country
in the form of honey, sirups, and molasses.
=Origin of Sugar.=--In the earliest times practically the only sugar
which was used by man was that stored by the bees, namely, honey. The
sugar cane is indigenous to Asia and was not known as a source of
sugar in Europe until the 13th or 14th century, when it was brought
by Eastern merchants to Europe. The discovery of America and the
introduction of sugar cane into the islands adjacent thereto opened
up a new field for the culture of that plant and laid the foundation
of the great industry which followed. It was not, however, until
100 years ago that the sugar cane industry assumed anything like
the proportions which indicated its subsequent growth. About 1747
sugar cane was introduced into Louisiana and soon thereafter, about
1790, became one of the most important crops of that state. Until
the beginning of the Civil War Louisiana produced a large proportion
of the cane sugar consumed in the United States. During the Civil
War the industry was almost totally destroyed, but since then it has
grown until it has assumed greater proportions than ever before but
constantly diminishing proportions in relation to the total supply.
Louisiana is somewhat too far north for the most economic production
of sugar cane, since it is subject to injury by frosts. Sugar cane is
a plant which is very sensitive to cold weather and is usually killed
by a hard frost. For this reason its greatest development has occurred
in tropical countries, especially in Cuba, the Hawaiian Islands, and in
other similar localities. At the present time by far the largest part
of the sugar made from sugar cane in the world is produced in Cuba and
the Hawaiian Islands,--the Cuban crop amounting, in round numbers, to
1,200,000 tons and the Hawaiian to about 400,000 tons.
=Beet Sugar.=--The fact that beet sugar is contained in the common
garden beet was first discovered by a German chemist, Margraff, in
1747. This important discovery remained dormant for nearly half a
century when one of Margraff’s pupils, the son of a French refugee from
Prussia, named Achard, resumed the researches which had been started
by Margraff and obtained results which were then regarded as of an
astonishing character. Achard’s statements were the subject of doubt
and of ridicule and even his French co-laborers, members of the academy
doubted the accuracy of his work, while thinking it of sufficient
interest to look into further. A commission consisting of some of the
most important members of the Academy of Science, among them Chaptal
and Vauquelin, investigated the matter and announced that the attempt
to make sugar was unsuccessful but thought perhaps the maple tree might
be grown in France. Nevertheless the commission modified the methods of
Achard and obtained better results. This was the beginning of that long
series of investigations which has resulted in the establishment of a
beet sugar industry, making in round numbers six million tons of sugar
per year, a quantity considerable greater than that produced from the
sugar cane. The name of Chaptal has been mentioned as belonging to the
commission which was appointed to study Achard’s process because it was
through the influence of Chaptal, who had then become a Count, that the
Emperor Napoleon on January 15, 1811, issued his decree establishing
the beet sugar industry as a national industry of France and granting
a subvention thereto. This decree ordered that one hundred thousand
hectares should be planted in beets in France. Both the taxes and the
octroi were withdrawn upon all sugar produced from beets for a period
of four years. There were also to be established, according to the
decree, four central beet sugar factories, and it was ordered that the
crop of sugar beets in 1812 and 1813 should reach two million kilograms
of raw sugar. The disastrous Russian campaign and the subsequent fall
of the Napoleonic dynasty interrupted but did not destroy the industry.
The establishment of an industry by imperial decree is perhaps a novel
method of procedure and gave rise at that time to a caricature in which
the Emperor Napoleon and the young King of Rome figured as the most
important characters. The Emperor was represented as seated in the
nursery with a cup of coffee before him into which he was squeezing the
juice of a beet. Near him was seated the young King of Rome voraciously
sucking a beet root while the nurse standing near and steadfastly
observing the process is saying to the youthful monarch--“Suck, dear,
suck, your father says it’s sugar.”
By reason of the embargo laid on commerce by England the cane sugar
coming from tropical islands had been kept out of the continent, so in
order to supply the deficiency the Emperor Napoleon issued the decree
mentioned. Due to this impetus the industry grew rapidly in France
even after the fall of the empire and in the course of 20 years had
assumed proportions of commercial importance. About this period German
scientists became interested in the matter and by studies directed to
the improvement of the sugar in the beet and methods of manufacture
laid the foundation of a great industry in Germany which has outclassed
the similar industries of all other countries.
The production of beet sugar in the United States was only a few
thousand pounds in 1879 and during that and succeeding years a number
of factories were built. All of these, however, were unsuccessful
except one which was located in Alvarado, California, and which has
been continuously operated ever since. In 1884 the U. S. Department of
Agriculture undertook anew the investigation of the conditions which
were favorable to the sugar beet industry and as a result of these
investigations a new start was made on a more substantial basis. The
industry has since then extensively grown in importance until at the
present time as much sugar is made from the sugar beet in this country
as from the sugar cane. In order that an adequate idea of the magnitude
of the sugar industry in the world may be had a statistical table is
submitted on page 471, showing the production of sugar in the world
during the year 1906.
The first important report on the beet sugar industry in the United
States was made by McMurtrie as a special report No. 28 on the culture
of the sugar beet, issued in 1880 by the Department of Agriculture. It
is there recounted that two Philadelphians, as early as 1880, became
interested in the beet sugar industry which was then in its infancy
in Europe. Eight years later David L. Child undertook in a small way
the production of beet sugar in Northampton, Mass., and issued a
small work on the subject, entitled “The Culture of the Beet and the
Manufacture of Beet Sugar.” He reports that he had grown beets that
would yield 6 percent of sugar which cost not more than 11 cents a
pound. He made in all about one thousand, three hundred pounds of sugar.
[Illustration: FIG. 68.--CORRECT POSITION OF A MATURE BEET IN THE
SOIL.--(_Farmers’ Bulletin 52._)]
The first factory of any considerable size in the United States was
erected in 1863 at Chatsworth, Ill., but this proved to be a financial
failure. A beet sugar factory was erected in the Sacramento Valley,
California, in 1869, and after various vicissitudes a permanent factory
was established at Alvarado, as has already been mentioned. In 1874 as
much as 1,500,000 pounds of beet sugar were made in California. In 1870
and 1871 New Jersey and Massachusetts enacted legislation exempting
from taxation for a period of 10 years all property devoted to the
production of beet sugar. Factories were established in Massachusetts
and in Delaware later on, but these all suffered financial reverses. It
was not until the latter part of the 80’s that the beet sugar industry
in the United States was placed upon a paying basis, and even since
that date many ventures in the manufacture of beet sugar have resulted
in financial loss and in the abandonment of the factories.
[Illustration: FIG. 69.--MAP SHOWING TEMPERATURE ZONE IN WHICH THE
SUGAR BEET ATTAINS ITS GREATEST PERFECTION.--(_Farmers’ Bulletin No.
52, Department of Agriculture._)]
_Conditions of Cultivation._--The sugar beet in the United States
does not produce its maximum content of sugar in areas where the mean
temperature for the three months of June, July, and August rises above
70 degrees F. The southern limit of this area is an irregular, waving
line, as indicated in the accompanying map (Fig. 69). There are, of
course, localities where high-grade beets can be produced south of
this line, but in point of fact nearly every successful beet sugar
enterprise has been located within the field indicated. There is
really no limit to the northern edge of this belt except that of short
seasons, incident to late frosts of spring and early frosts of autumn.
To successfully compete in the sugar markets of the world the sugar
beet should enter the factory with an average percentage of sugar of
not less than 12. Very much richer beets are often produced and in some
of the irrigated areas of the west, where the climate is remarkably
dry, an average percentage of 16 and 18 even has been obtained. In the
whole beet sugar crop of the United States the average percentage of
sugar in the beet is probably not far from 13 or 14. In this respect it
is seen that the beet is richer in sugar than the average sugar cane of
Louisiana, which does not contain over 11 or 12 percent of sugar.
[Illustration: FIG. 70.--A FIELD OF BEETS READY FOR
HARVESTING.--(_Bureau of Plant Industry._)]
_Yield per Acre._--The average yield per acre of sugar beets in the
United States is unfortunately very low, due chiefly to ignorance of
the proper method of culture. The sugar beet is more of a garden than
a field crop and requires special cultivation and fertilization. The
average yield in the United States has probably not exceeded eight
tons per acre, while the average yield in Europe is twelve or thirteen
tons per acre. In this respect the Louisiana sugar cane has a marked
advantage, the average crop being over twenty tons, while thirty and
even forty tons are often obtained. As soon as our farmers learn the
principles of culture it is certain that the average yield in the
United States will be as great as that in Europe. A typical field of
beets ready for the harvest is shown in Fig. 70.
_Manufacture._--The manufacture of beet sugar is both a simple and a
complicated operation. The simplicity of it consists in the fact that
it is only necessary to extract the saccharine juices of the beet,
properly clarify them, and reduce them by evaporation to a point where
the sugar will crystallize. In reality the operation of successful
manufacture requires elaborate and costly machinery and a high degree
of technical skill. A brief outline of the method will be sufficient
for the purpose of this manual.
[Illustration: FIG. 71.--BEETS READY FOR TRANSPORTATION TO
FACTORY.--(_Bureau of Plant Industry._)]
[Illustration: FIG. 72.--DIFFUSION BATTERY.--(_Farmers’ Bulletin 52._)]
The beets, after harvesting, have the tops cut off with a small
quantity of the adhering material of the neck of the beet, which
contains large quantities of salts and is not suitable to enter the
factory. In Fig. 71 is shown a view of a beet field after the harvest.
The beets are then thoroughly washed and passed through a slicing
machine in which they are cut up into thin slices or ribbons. They then
enter a series of tanks, known as a diffusion battery, in which they
are thoroughly treated with hot water, by means of which practically
all of the sugar which they contain is extracted. The saccharine
product obtained, known as the diffusion juice, is treated with a
large excess of lime, heated, and carbonic acid derived from a lime
kiln blown through it until the lime is all converted into a carbonate
carrying down with it the impurities of the juices. The diffusion
juice as it comes from the diffusion battery is usually almost as black
as ink. After carbonatation, as the process above is called, it is of a
clear, light amber tint. To separate the liquid from the solid matter
the whole is passed through a filter press from which the juice emerges
bright and clear and the carbonate of lime with its adhering impurities
remains in the filter press as hard cakes. This process is repeated in
order to secure as great a purity as possible in the juice.
[Illustration: FIG. 73.--MULTIPLE-EFFECT EVAPORATING
APPARATUS.--(_Farmers’ Bulletin 52._)]
_Evaporation._--The purified juice is conducted into multiple-effect
vacuum pans, Fig. 73, from which the air is partially exhausted by
a pump, the vacuum rising in the series. There are usually three or
four of these pans connected together,--the first one having the least
air exhausted from it and the last one the most, that is, having the
highest vacuum. The vapor which arises from the first pan is conducted
through the copper coils to the second and serves as the heating agent
while the vapor from the second pan passes through the copper coils to
the third and so on to the fourth. Thus the steam used for evaporating
is turned only on the first pan and by this means a great economy in
the use of fuel is secured. In this way the juice is evaporated to a
sirup. This is usually somewhat colored and if white sugar is made it
is bleached by passing through bone-black or by the application of
sulfur fumes. When sulfur is used it is often applied first to the
unevaporated juice as well as to the sirup.
_Final Crystallization._--The sirup is now ready for the final process,
which takes place in what is known as the vacuum strike pan, Fig. 74. A
considerable quantity of sirup is introduced so as to cover the lower
coils of this pan and, after the vacuum is established by a pump,
evaporated to the crystallizing point. An additional quantity of cold
sirup is then drawn into the pan, chilling the mass and thus producing
incipient crystallization in the form of extremely minute crystals. The
evaporation is now continued with the addition of sirup from time to
time, by which process the sugar crystals begin to grow. In the course
of a few hours the pan is full of crystals of the size desired.
[Illustration: FIG. 74.--VACUUM STRIKE PAN.--(_Farmers’ Bulletin 52._)]
_Purification of the Sugar._--The vacuum is broken and the crystallized
mass of sugar drawn into a mixing apparatus whereby all lumps are
broken up and a uniform magma secured. This is done while the mass is
still warm. Were it allowed to cool it would be extremely difficult
to break it up. The warm mixture is then passed into the centrifugal
machine, by means of which the molasses is separated from the crystals
and these remain as white pure crystals in the pan. The whole process
of separating the juice from the massecuite, as the mass is called,
occupies only a few minutes. Thus the sugar is often centrifugalled and
in the barrels before it is cold from the vacuum pan.
The above is merely the outline of a method which requires complicated
apparatus, often of extensive proportions, and which could not be
described in detail except in a technical work. It gives the reader,
however, an idea of how the white sugar which he eats is made. Often
white sugar is not made at the sugar factory, in which case the
bleaching with bone-black, etc., is omitted and a brown sugar is
produced which afterward goes to the refinery.
[Illustration: FIG. 75.--SUGAR CANE FIELD READY FOR
HARVEST.--(_Photographed by H. W. Wiley._)]
_Growth of Sugar Cane._--The growth of sugar cane is confined to
tropical and subtropical regions. In the United States this crop is
grown chiefly in Louisiana and Texas. Its cultivation does not extend
northward beyond the center of Georgia. Typical scenes in sugar cane
fields are shown in Figs. 75 and 76.
=Manufacture of Cane Sugar.=--In the manufacture of sugar from the
sugar cane the first process, naturally, after the harvest, is the
expression of the juice from the cane. At the time of harvesting the
canes are topped in such a way as to cut off the green portion of the
upper part of the stalk and the leaves also are removed.
[Illustration: FIG. 76.--CANE FIELD PARTLY HARVESTED.--(_Photographed
by H. W. Wiley._)]
There are two methods of extracting the juice from the cane, one
similar to that described for the sugar beet but used very little.
Only one or two factories in the United States use this method of
extraction. The most common method of extraction is by passing the
canes through heavy mills. These mills are made of great strength so
as to bear an immense pressure without breaking. The largest mills
have a capacity of grinding from 500 to 1000 tons of cane a day. Many
of them grind only from 200 to 500 tons per day. The mills are nearly
always placed in series, that is, the cane is subjected to a double
pressure. The first mill is uniformly composed of three rollers of
the same size and set so that the first and second are not quite so
close together as the second and third. The second mill also often
consists of three rollers the same as the first mill but sometimes
only two. Occasionally a third is used. It is quite customary to
sprinkle the crushed cane as it comes from the first mill with water
before it enters the second mill, thus securing a greater degree of
extraction. The residue from the mill is called bagasse and is commonly
carried directly to the furnace and used as fuel, furnishing steam,
to evaporate the juice and drive the mill. The mills extract from 75
to 80 percent of the weight of cane in juice. The sugar cane contains
about 88 percent of its weight of sugar juice. It is seen, therefore,
that a considerable portion of the sugar remains in the bagasse. By the
process of diffusion a larger proportion of the sugar is extracted than
by milling, but the resulting juices are very much diluted and require
a greater combustion of fuel for evaporation.
_Clarifying the Juice._--The juice as expressed from the cane is
a dirty-looking mass and requires to be clarified before it is
concentrated. It is a very common practice to subject the fresh juice
to the fumes of burning sulfur. In all cases the first step in the
clarifying is the addition of lime to neutralize the natural acidity
of the juice and facilitate the coagulation of the dissolved matter.
The limed juice is next subjected to heating and as the boiling point
approaches a separation of the suspended and coagulated matter takes
place, the light coming to the top and the heavy falling to the bottom.
The common method of separating these bodies is by skimming the top
coagulum and settling the bottom portion and drawing off the clear
juice therefrom. In addition to this to get a more complete separation
the heated juice may be run through a filter press.
The clarification of sugar cane juice, as is seen, is much more simple
than that of beet juice. The method employed for the clarification of
beet juice is sometimes used for cane juice but not very frequently.
_Evaporation of Clarified Juice._--After the clarification is completed
the further treatment of the juice is exactly the same as that for the
sugar beet.
[Illustration: FIG. 77.--TAPPING THE MAPLE TREES.--(_Courtesy Forest
Service, Department of Agriculture._)]
[Illustration: FIG. 78.--TRANSPORTING THE SAP TO THE SUGAR
HOUSE.--(_Courtesy Forest Service, Department of Agriculture._)]
=Manufacture of Maple Sugar.=--The maple trees in the United States
grow chiefly in the New England states, especially in Vermont, New
York, Ohio, and Indiana. Very little sugar is made in other states.
The season of manufacture is at the beginning of spring, when the
sap first begins to run and before the buds of the new leaves have
developed very extensively. The season lasts from four to six weeks. In
New England it begins the latter part of March and in Ohio and Indiana
in February. The trees are bored and a tubular spile driven into the
wood through which the sap escapes into the bucket or other receptacle.
Figs. 77, 78, and 79 are typical scenes in a small maple orchard during
the season, showing tapping of the trees and collection and boiling
of the sap. The sap of the maple tree is extremely bright and clear
and requires no clarifying. It is usually evaporated in open kettles
or pans, the vacuum process not being employed. The crystallization
takes place at the final moment of evaporation and usually the whole
mass is sold as sugar, forming what is known in the cane sugar industry
as concrete. Maple sugar is never refined, since in the process of
refining the peculiar flavor and odor which give it its chief value
would disappear. The quantity of maple sugar made in the United States
is almost negligible from a commercial point of view, amounting
annually to only about 10,000 tons. Perhaps a greater quantity of maple
sap is used in the form of sirup than of sugar.
[Illustration: FIG. 79.--BOILING THE MAPLE SAP.--(_Courtesy Forest
Service, Department of Agriculture._)]
=Refining of Sugar.=--All kinds of raw sugar but maple are refined
before entering commerce. The public taste has demanded a pure white
sugar and in so far as beet sugar is concerned the refining process is
a necessity, inasmuch as raw beet sugar has a very disagreeable soapy
taste and odor which render it unfit for consumption. On the other hand
raw cane sugar is aromatic, fragrant, and delicious to a far greater
degree in the raw state than when it is refined, since after the
refining process it is difficult to distinguish the product of the beet
juice from that of the sugar cane.
_Process of Refining._--The manipulation attending the refining of
sugar is a somewhat simple one, but experience has shown that it can
only be done economically in very large establishments, many of which
cost millions of dollars. The attempt to refine sugar on a small scale
makes the product too expensive to compete commercially with the
product of the large refinery. The raw sugar is first mixed with water
and melted and reduced to the condition of a sirup. In this state it
is treated with lime and clarified as has been described for sugar
cane juice. Sometimes at this stage it is also treated with sulfur
fumes, but not usually. After clarifying the juice is filtered through
bags or filter presses so as to free it from all suspended matter. In
order to decolorize it it is then passed through large cylinders filled
with bone-black from which it emerges quite or almost water-white.
When the bone-black loses its decolorizing properties it is removed
from the cylinder and reburned in closed retorts, by which process it
regains its power to decolorize the sugar solution. The decolorized
juices are next taken into vacuum strike pans, as has already been
described in the manufacture of sugar, only of a much larger size. In
these pans they are evaporated and crystallized and the sugar separated
in centrifugals as described above. After the sugar comes from the
centrifugal it is placed in a granulating apparatus, a large revolving
drum supplied with a steam jacket from which it emerges dry. Granulated
sugar is almost chemically pure, often containing 99.9 percent of
pure sugar. The molasses from the centrifugal is diluted, passed
through bone-black, and reboiled and a new lot of sugar obtained.
Finally when the product becomes so low in sugar as not to yield a
white product lower grades of brown sugar are made, which are usually
sold without drying and contain considerable quantities of moisture
and some molasses. The final molasses which no longer crystallizes is
sold usually for mixing with glucose to make table sirup. It contains
so much mineral matter in solution as to be hardly suitable for food
purposes.
Loaf sugar, cut loaf, etc., are forms of pure sugar which are pressed
or cut in the forms in which they appear on the market and then dried
instead of being dried in a granulated state as described. Powdered
sugar is dry refined sugar reduced to a fine powder.
In the refining of sugar it is quite customary to wash the crystals
in the centrifugal with ultramarine blue suspended in water. This is
done in order to form with the blue water and the yellow tint, which
sometimes accompanies the crystals, a perfectly white appearance, on
the optical principle which shows that when a blue and a yellow tint
are mixed a white color results. This process is not required for the
first-class product coming from the first crystallization and very
often dealers require sugar for special purposes which has not been so
treated. It would be advisable if all consumers should demand a sugar
of the same character.
While the refining of sugar can probably never be abolished it should
not be forgotten that the very finest sugar, from a palatable point
of view, is that made from the maple or sugar cane without refining
in which the crystals retain their natural yellow color. If consumers
understood thoroughly the value of a sugar of this kind they would
demand it instead of the dead white product which is now in vogue.
As has been stated a raw sugar of this kind could not be used if made
from beets.
=Sugar Crops of the World.=--These figures include local consumption of
home production wherever known.
Willett and Gray’s estimates of cane sugar crops, Oct. 18, 1906:
CROP
BEGINS: 1906-07. 1905-06. 1904-05.
United States--
Louisiana September 265,000 330,000 335,000
Texas September 14,000 12,000 15,000
Porto Rico January 230,000 213,000 145,000
Hawaiian Islands November 395,000 385,000 382,576
Cuba, _crop_ December 1,250,000 1,175,000 1,163,258
British West Indies--
Trinidad, _exports_ January 50,000 55,000 31,000
Barbados, _exports_ January 43,000 49,680 41,600
Jamaica, _crop_ January 18,000 18,000 16,000
Antigua and St. Kitts January 24,000 24,000 24,000
French West Indies--
Martinique, _exports_ January 35,000 33,000 29,986
Guadeloupe January 36,000 36,000 36,000
Danish West Indies--
St. Croix January 13,000 13,000 11,000
Haiti and San Domingo January 50,000 50,000 47,000
Lesser Antilles, not
named above January 13,000 13,000 13,000
Mexico, _crop_ December 110,000 105,000 107,038
Central America--
Guatemala, _crop_ January 8,000 8,000 7,640
San Salvador, _crop_ January 6,000 6,000 5,588
Nicaragua, _crop_ January 5,000 5,000 4,235
Costa Rica, _crop_ January 3,000 3,000 2,305
South America--
Demerara, _exports_ Oct. & May 120,000 121,693 101,278
Surinam, _crop_ October 13,000 13,000 13,000
Venezuela October 3,000 3,000 3,000
Peru, _crop_ October 140,000 150,000 150,000
Argentine Republic,
_crop_ June 140,000 137,308 128,104
Brazil, _crop_ October 260,000 275,000 195,000
--------- --------- ---------
Total in America 3,244,000 3,233,681 3,005,608
--------- --------- ---------
Asia--
British India--
_Exports_ December 30,000 15,000 30,000
Siam (cons’n 30,000
tons, mostly imported) ..... ..... ..... .....
Java, _crop_ May 950,000 993,900 1,008,900
Japan (cons’n 260,000
tons, mostly imported) ..... ..... ..... .....
Philippine Islands,
_crop_ December 160,000 135,625 106,875
China (cons’n large,
mostly imported) ..... ..... ..... .....
--------- --------- ---------
Total in Asia 1,140,000 1,144,525 1,145,775
--------- --------- ---------
Australia and Polynesia--
Queensland June 170,000 170,000 147,688
New South Wales June 20,000 20,000 21,525
Fiji Islands,
_exports_ June 40,000 40,000 47,000
------- ------- -------
Total in Australia and
Polynesia 230,000 230,000 216,213
------- ------- -------
Africa--Egypt, _crop_ January 60,000 65,000 60,000
Mauritius August 200,000 188,364 142,101
Reunion September 30,000 30,000 30,000
------- ------- -------
Total in Africa 290,000 283,364 232,101
------- ------- -------
Europe--Spain December 15,000 14,512 18,592
------- ------- -------
Total Cane sugar crops
(W. & G.) 4,919,000 4,906,082 4,618,289
Europe Beet sugar crops
(F. O. Licht) September 6,570,000 6,954,000 4,708,758
United States Beet sugar
crops (W. & G.) July & Oct. 345,000 283,717 209,722
---------- ---------- ---------
Grand total Cane and Beet Sugar--
Tons 11,834,000 12,143,799 9,536,769
Estimated decrease in the world’s
production 309,799 ..... .....
=Adulteration of Sugar.=--In the United States there are few
adulterations of sugar practiced. The product has grown so cheap not
only in the United States but all over the world that adulterations
are no longer a paying process and whenever adulteration ceases to pay
it requires no law to prevent it. White sugars have been adulterated
from time to time by the admixture of white earth or terra alba (either
ground silicate, ground gypsum, or ground chalk). I have never found
any adulteration of this kind in an American white sugar. White
flour has also been added to sugar as an adulterant, but that form of
adulteration is not known in this country. The only adulteration which
is found in American sugar, in so far as I know, is that incident to
the process of manufacture which I have described. When sulfur is used
in sulfuring the juice before clarifying a trace of sulfurous acid may
still adhere to the finished product. When bluing is used the particles
of ultramarine blue attach themselves to the sugar crystals and become
an adulteration. I have seen sugar so blued that on solution the water
would turn blue. Sugar granules are also sometimes washed with salts of
tin, a very poisonous compound, and a trace of these salts may still
adhere to the crystals. Sugar has also been mixed with dextrose made
from starch, in other words, from starch sugar, or as it is ordinarily
called, anhydrous grape sugar. This is a form of adulteration which
has been little practiced on account of the difficulty of getting a
dry starch sugar in commercial quantities. Recent improvements in the
manufacture of dextrose have made it more probable that this form of
adulteration may be more frequent in the future. As a food product
pure dextrose is probably as valuable as sugar, but if it can be
made cheaper it would become a fraudulent adulteration or if added
in any way without notice its addition is fraudulent and constitutes
an adulteration. There is little, however, to fear from this form of
adulteration as long as the price of sugar does not go much above 5
cents per pound.
=Sugar as a Food.=--The food value of sugar is well defined. It
furnishes next to oil and fat the most complete food for heat and
energy that can be consumed, ranking, of course, as starch in this
particular. Sugar is a quick-acting food and therefore is especially
valuable to relieve exhaustion. It is particularly useful for
soldiers on a forced march or for people engaged in any extraordinary
effort. A lump of sugar eaten occasionally keeps up the strength and
prevents exhaustion. The value of sugar as a food is not appreciated
as it should be, since it is valued mostly for its condimental and
preservative properties.
SIRUP.
A very common form in which sugar is used in this country is in the
form of sirup. The United States more than any other nation consumes
viscous liquid solutions of sugar as a condimental food product,
especially at breakfast on hot cakes and other articles of diet. Table
sirup is an almost uniform article of diet upon the American breakfast
table whether in the household, the hotel, or restaurant.
=Maple Sirup.=--Among the sirups, first of all must be mentioned the
most valuable and highly appreciated, namely, maple sirup. Maple sirup
is the product of the evaporation of the juice of the sap of the maple
tree to a consistency in which only about 25 or 30 percent of its
weight is water. This is sufficient to prevent the crystallization of
the sugar for at least a reasonable length of time. Maple sirup is
best when freshly made, and if kept through the summer should be put in
tins and tightly sealed while hot. In this condition it will keep its
original flavor almost entirely, whereas if left in barrels or other
ordinary receptacles its flavor is impaired. Maple sirup is also made
by dissolving maple sugar as occasion may require, but this kind is not
so highly prized as that made directly from the maple sap.
[Illustration: FIG. 80.--SMALL PRIMITIVE MILL FOR EXTRACTING JUICE FROM
SUGAR CANE FOR SIRUP MAKING.--(_Photograph by H. W. Wiley._)]
_Analysis of Maple Sirup._--The average composition of ten samples of
maple sirup of known purity is as follows:
Total solids, 70.50 percent
Water, 31.40 „
Ash, .53 „
Sucrose, 64.10 „
Reducing sugar, 1.30 „
The study of the ash of maple sirup is an important point in connection
with its purity. It is distinctly different from the ash of the sugar
cane and sorghum, and its study should not be neglected in all cases
where there is any doubt respecting the genuineness of the samples.
[Illustration: FIG. 81.--MILL AND EVAPORATING APPARATUS FOR SIRUP
MAKING IN GEORGIA.--(_Bulletin 70, Bureau of Chemistry._)]
[Illustration: FIG. 82.--RELATIVE LENGTH OF CANES USED FOR SIRUP
MAKING.--(_Photograph by H. W. Wiley._)]
=Cane Sirup.=--Sugar cane sirup is made by expressing the juice of
the sugar cane as described, clarifying, and evaporating the juice
to a consistency where only about 25 or 30 percent of the water
remains, which is sufficient to prevent the sugar from crystallizing
for a reasonable length of time. Sugar cane sirup is made in hundreds
of small factories in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama,
Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. It is usually
made in a small way with mills driven by a horse or mule and with
primitive methods of evaporation in an ordinary kettle. Hard pine wood
is burned for the evaporation and the empyreumatic flavor of the pine
is often absorbed by the sirup. In Figs. 80 and 81 are shown typical
apparatus used for the manufacture of sirup from sugar cane in Georgia
and in Fig. 82 the relative length of canes ready for manufacture.
In factories where modern apparatus is used, in so far as I know,
the vacuum process is not employed. In fact, except for economy of
fuel, the vacuum process would be objectionable, since by boiling in
an ordinary open kettle a larger quantity of sugar is inverted and
thus the tendency to crystallization is diminished. It is a common
but reprehensible practice in making sugar cane sirup to subject the
freshly expressed juice to the fumes of burning sulfur. This makes a
light-colored sirup but introduces a substance highly objectionable
and one which destroys to a certain degree the flavor of the product.
Experiments made by the Department of Agriculture show that delicious,
wholesome, and palatable sugar cane sirup is best made by clarifying
the expressed juice solely by means of heat and mechanical separation
of the coagulum. The addition of lime or any other clarifying
reagent is unnecessary and only makes a sirup of less desirable and
less palatable quality. Since cane sirup is made uniformly in open
kettles or pans there is a slight caramellization of the sirup during
evaporation which gives a reddish tint to the product, which should
be a mark of superiority instead of being so often regarded as a mark
of inferiority. The consumer should always be suspicious of a sugar
cane sirup which is light in color. It is probably a case of “Greeks
bearing gifts” in the form of sulfurous acid or other injurious
bleaching materials. Sugar cane sirup is not appreciated by the people
of the North. In fact it is rarely seen or consumed by them. In its
own country, however, it is a staple article of diet, highly esteemed,
wholesome, palatable, and nutritious.
_Analysis of Sugar Cane Sirup._--The average composition of thirteen
samples of cane sirup of known purity is as follows:
Total solids, 75.0 percent
Water, 25.8 „
Ash, 1.2 „
Sucrose, 52.0 „
Reducing sugar, 17.6 „
=Sorghum Sirup.=--The sorghum plant (_Sorghum saccharatum_) is grown
practically in every state in the Union, but principally in Kansas.
Some of the very best sorghum sirup made in the United States, however,
is made in Minnesota, and this plant can be used for sirup making
purposes over the whole area of the United States.
The method of manufacture is exactly that of sugar cane sirup. It is
made in small mills mostly driven by horse power, though some large
factories have steam apparatus for its manufacture. It should also
be made without the use of any other clarifying reagent than heat.
Sorghum sirup has a peculiar flavor which is not disagreeable to those
accustomed to its use. It is extremely wholesome, highly nutritious,
and palatable. It is a staple article of diet with thousands of
families in the United States, principally in the northern and central
portion. It rarely is made in the New England states and not very often
in those southern states where sugar cane can be used in its place,
since the sugar cane makes a sirup which is preferred by most people.
_Analysis of Sorghum Sirup._--The average composition of ten samples of
sorghum sirup of known purity is as follows:
Total solids, 76.0 percent
Water, 28.6 „
Ash, 4.0 „
Sucrose, 36.7 „
Reducing sugar, 26.6 „
=Molasses.=--The term “molasses” is properly applied to the saccharine
product which is separated from sugar in the process of manufacture. It
is well to clearly discriminate in the use of the term in order that no
confusion or misunderstanding may arise. To this end the terms “sirup”
and “molasses” may be contrasted. A sirup is the direct product of the
evaporation of the juice of a sugar-yielding plant or tree without the
removal of any of the sugar. The term molasses applies to the same
process with the exception of the fact that sugar has been removed
at least partially by crystallization and some kind of mechanical
separation of the crystals from the remaining liquid. Molasses,
therefore, to use a term employed in chemistry, may be considered the
“mother liquid” which has produced the crystallization of the sugar.
The production of molasses has already been sufficiently described
in the article on sugar making. The molasses is either separated by
gravitation as in the old style of drying sugar or, as at the present
time, almost exclusively by centrifugal action. The molasses naturally
contains all the substances in solution or suspension which are not
retained upon the gauze of the centrifugal. It differs from the total
mass of evaporated sugar liquid only in the fact that a large portion
of the sucrose or crystallizible sugar has been separated. The sugar
juices of the cane and sorghum contain considerable quantities of sugar
of a kind different from sucrose or common sugar, namely, an invert
sugar, a “reducing sugar,” as it is called, which consists usually
of about equal parts of dextrose and levulose. During the process of
manufacture small portions of the sucrose are converted into sugar of
this kind thus increasing its quantity. In the final crystallization
there is always a portion of sugar uncrystallized remaining as a
viscous liquid in contact with the crystallized particles. This natural
invert sugar which is in the juice, the small portion formed from the
sucrose during the process of manufacture, and the part of sucrose
remaining uncrystallized in the mother liquid constitutes the molasses.
In the washing of sugar the water which is used also passes into the
molasses thus diluting it somewhat from its natural consistence. In the
sugar refinery the molasses is made up of practically such materials
as just mentioned, but inasmuch as the separation of the sugar is
more complete the other portions of the molasses, namely, the mineral
salts, particularly appear in a very much larger proportion than in the
ordinary molasses as will be seen by the analysis of these bodies.
=Varieties of Molasses.=--_New Orleans Molasses._--The real New
Orleans molasses is the product of the manufacture of sugar in the
old-fashioned way in the open kettle and without the aid of vacuum
pans. In this process the crystallization of the sugar does not take
place during the boiling but the concentrated liquid is placed in tanks
where the crystallization takes place. When this is complete it is
broken up into small fragments and placed in a hogshead standing in an
upright position, the bottom of which is perforated and covered with
straw or fragments of sugar cane. When the hogshead is filled with
the crystallized mixture, through the action of gravity the liquid
portion gradually sinks and passes out at the bottom of the hogshead.
This natural separation of the molasses makes a product of exquisite
palatability and one of a character which it is difficult to equal even
by the production of high-grade sirup. Before the Civil War this kind
of molasses was used throughout the United States. At the present time
only extremely small quantities of it are made inasmuch as the open
kettle process is practically a lost industry in the South. The term
“New Orleans molasses” as used at the present day, therefore, applies
to a product of quite a different character.
_Sugar Cane Molasses._--Since the introduction of modern processes
of making sugar, namely the vacuum pan and centrifugal process, the
character of molasses from the sugar cane factory has constantly
deteriorated. This is a natural deterioration due to the improvement
in the method of sugar making. Much larger quantities of sugar are now
obtained in a crystallized state than formerly. The molasses is to this
extent impoverished and the impurities contained therein increased
proportionately. It is quite common now in the process of manufacture
of sugar from sugar cane to secure at least three crystallizations.
_First Molasses._--When the sugar is crystallized in the vacuum pans
and separated from the molasses in the centrifugal the product which is
obtained is called “first molasses.” Usually this molasses is diluted
to a sirup and reboiled in connection with the clarified juices direct
from the sugar cane and thus a second portion of sugar is obtained or
the molasses may be boiled separately and a second crystallization of
the sugar separated by the centrifugal. The molasses from this product
is called “_second molasses_” and is inferior in quality to the first
molasses.
_Third Molasses._--The second molasses is reboiled to a thick
consistency and placed in wagons, transferred to a warm room where it
is allowed to remain, sometimes for two or three months, when a third
crystallization takes place. The sugar from this crystallization is
separated as usual by the centrifugal, and a third molasses produced of
still greater inferiority. Thus, in the best sugar factories high-grade
molasses is not made in the United States but only that of inferior
quality. This molasses is largely used for fermentation, or is fed to
the mules on the plantations. It is also employed to a certain extent
for mixing purposes as indicated above.
_Analysis of First, Second, and Third Molasses._--
-------+-------+------+------+------+------+--------+------+------
| | | | | | | | ACIDS
| TOTAL | SU- | DEX- | LEVU-| | ALBU- | | AND
|SOLIDS.|CROSE.|TROSE.| LOSE.| ASH. |MINOIDS.|AMIDS.| GUMS.
-------+-------+------+------+------+------+--------+------+------
| _Per- |_Per- | _Per-| _Per-| _Per-| _Per- | _Per-|_Per-
| cent._|cent._|cent._|cent._|cent._| cent._ |cent._|cent._
First, | 80.00 | 53.60| 8.76 | 8.00| 4.00 | 0.20 | 0.94 | 4.50
Second,| 80.00 | 41.70|12.20 | 12.50| 5.35 | 0.25 | 1.50 | 6.50
Third | 80.00 | 31.70|15.00 | 16.50| 6.30 | 0.30 | 2.00 | 8.20
-------+-------+------+------+------+------+--------+------+------
The increasing content of dextrose and levulose, of ash, acids,
and gums, and the decreasing content of sucrose or pure sugar are
characteristic of the second and third molasses.
The above analyses show the progressive change in molasses due to
the separation of the successive portions of sugar and indicate the
lowering of the quality of the molasses, at least for food purposes,
as the separation of the sugar becomes more complete. It is evident
that in the manufacture of sugar in this way, in which very probably an
effort is made to get the highest possible yield, the resulting final
molasses is a substance quite unfit for human consumption.
_Sugar-house Molasses._--Attention has already been called to the
production of sugar-house molasses or sugar refinery molasses. This
is a product which in its physical appearance is far superior to the
third molasses of the sugar factory and this superiority is due to
the fact that all suspended matter in the refined molasses has been
separated by filtration. In so far as soluble materials which are not
food is concerned, however, the refinery molasses contains even larger
proportions than the sugar factory molasses. The refinery molasses is
not usually considered suitable for food except when diluted as has
been before indicated in the way of mixing sirup.
=Mixed Sirups.=--By far the greater part of the sirups used in the
United States are mixtures of two or more saccharine substances. The
glucose of commerce is the base and perhaps chief constituent of the
most of these mixtures. The glucose, being colorless and of a thick
body, forms an ideal base as far as physical properties are concerned,
for a table sirup. The quantity used varies very largely, but in
general the glucose constitutes by far the larger percentage of the
mixed product. Since glucose has only a very slightly sweet taste
and is devoid of the general palatable properties which make a sirup
attractive, it is colored and flavored with the product of the sugar
cane or the maple tree. Sorghum sirup is also used very extensively in
mixing. The process of mixing is an extremely simple one. The glucose
is warmed until it is easily workable and the added sirups or molasses
which are used for coloring and flavoring mixed intimately with it. In
large factories this is done by mechanical mixers while in a small way
it may be done by hand. Instead of glucose, one sirup itself may be
used as the base and mixed with another for flavor, as, for instance,
in the case of mixed maple sirup. Very commonly the brown sugar is
melted with water and this is used as a base for the formation of
sirups. Whichever may be the case the principle of the process remains
the same, namely, using as the base a cheaper and less palatable
material and flavoring and coloring with the more expensive and more
palatable material. From a dietetic and commercial point of view there
can be no valid objection raised to this method of mixing sirups. The
product is, as a rule, attractive, palatable, and wholesome.
Attention has already been called to the fact that the final molasses
in the sugar refinery, after all the sugar has been extracted that can
possibly be gotten out by the most approved modern process, is used
very extensively for mixing purposes. This molasses has a very high
content of soluble salts, reaching often 8 percent or more, which gives
a distinct flavor and character. It also has acquired a certain flavor
from repeated filtering over bone-black and in general has a strong and
pronounced flavor which gives it a peculiar value as a flavoring agent.
It is also a clear product, free from suspended matter by reason of
its repeated filtration. It can thus be mixed with glucose and forms
a bright mixture, devoid of suspended matter and turbidity, and is
attractive to the eye. Ten percent of molasses of this kind added to
a glucose will make a mixture which is attractive and salable, and,
it may also be added, palatable. The other products which are used
for mixing with the glucose in the manufacture of table sirup consist
of the molasses obtained from cane sugar factories or the sirups
made directly from the sugar cane and sorghum. All these bodies have
valuable mixing properties and small quantities of them give sufficient
color and flavor to the mixed product.
_Adulteration of Mixed Sirups._--The adulteration of mixed sirups
consists chiefly of adulterations that are in the materials from
which they are made. Glucose itself often contains sulfurous acid
used for bleaching in the process of manufacture. It also contains
considerable quantities of sulfate or chlorid of lime incident to its
manufacture and coming from the sulfuric or hydrochloric acid used
in the hydrolysis of the starch from which it is made. The molasses
which is used for coloring and flavoring may also contain injurious
substances. For instance, sulfurous acid is very extensively used in
the manufacture of cane sugar and this acid becomes concentrated in
the molasses. Lime is used very extensively in the clarification of
the juices and this lime is not wholly separated but some of it is
concentrated in the molasses. A moderate amount of lime, however, is
not objectionable. Salts of tin are frequently employed in washing
the sugar in a centrifugal and these salts are found concentrated in
the molasses. The excess of bluing which is used in the centrifugal
is also found in the molasses. Various forms of acid phosphates are
frequently employed in the clarifying of the cane juices and a part of
these is also found concentrated in the molasses. In fact the molasses
from sugar cane factories very frequently contains such quantities of
these added substances as to render it unfit for human consumption.
It is true that these substances are diluted when mixed with glucose,
but this is not a sufficient excuse to warrant their employment. It
is possible to obtain unobjectionable sirups and molasses for mixing
purposes and manufacturers should be held strictly to account if
this is not done. In so far as has come to my knowledge there are no
adulterants directly added to the mixed sirups except for bleaching
purposes.
Attention should be called, however, to still another form of
adulteration due to the fact that the molasses from the sugar cane
factories is often so dark-colored as to be even unfit for mixing.
In such cases it is not uncommon to bleach the molasses by adding zinc
and acid producing nascent hydrogen and leaving the salts of zinc,
either the sulfite or chlorid as the case may be, in the product.
Molasses containing salts of any of these heavy metals, namely, zinc,
tin, or lead, should be rigidly excluded from consumption.
=General Observations.=--If a sirup is to be considered in the light
of the definitions already given, as the result of evaporation, after
proper clarification of the saccharine juices of sugar-producing
plants it is doubtful if the term should be used in connection with
the mixed products which have been described. I have used it because
these are the commercial designations. Since molasses is also used
very extensively in the manufacture of these mixed sirups it might be
asked if they could not also be as properly called molasses as sirup.
In England the material which is called molasses in this country is
usually known as treacle and the very dark molasses coming from the
refinery or the sugar factory is known in both countries as “black
strap.” If molasses be concentrated to a high degree and pulled while
cooling the product is known as taffy in this country or toffy in
England,--it is also known as molasses candy.
The general conclusion in regard to this matter is that since the
processes of sugar making have been so improved as to extract the
greater part of the crystallizible sugar, thus concentrating the
residue of an inedible character in the molasses and since, further,
the use of various chemicals in the clarifying of sugar juices has
become general, all of which are practically concentrated in the
molasses, this latter product has practically ceased to be edible.
The laws relating to the distillation of alcohol have been so amended
as to permit the production of industrial alcohol, under conditions
prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, free of tax.
Molasses is an excellent material for this purpose and, in addition
to this, is the cheapest material which can be used. The obvious
inference is that this material should be used exclusively for the
production of industrial alcohol or for some other technical uses and
no longer be prepared for human food. The production of straight, pure
sirups from maple sap and the sap of the sugar cane and of sorghum and,
in certain conditions, from sugar, can be easily secured in quantities
sufficient to supply the demand not only for the consumption of pure
sirups but also for supplying the materials which when mixed with pure
glucose produce the mixed sirups of commerce. Thus inedible molasses
would be eliminated from human food and mixed sirups be rendered
unobjectionable articles of diet.
CONFECTIONERY.
The term confectionery is applied to a wide range of products which may
in general be described as preparations of saccharine substances with
various colors and flavors. A common appellation used in connection
with confectionery and one which describes perhaps the major part of
the product is the term “candy.”
=Material Used in the Preparation of Confectionery.=--The saccharine
materials which are employed in the preparation of confectionery are
sugars of various kinds, namely, maple, cane, and beet sugar together
with glucose, dextrose, and invert sugar. Starch, which is not a
saccharine substance, is sometimes used as a filler in some forms
of confectionery. The colors used are either those of a vegetable
character, such as saffron and annatto, or derived from the animal
substances, such as cochineal, or more generally, that large class of
bodies derived from coal tar and generally known under the name of
anilin dyes. The flavors employed are either natural flavors, such as
those derived from nuts and fruits, or their preparations, extracts,
such as the extract of vanilla, and synthetic preparations, including
a very large number of artificial flavoring materials resembling
to a greater or less degree the natural flavor of fruits, nuts, or
flowers. Chocolate is one of the most common and one of the most highly
appreciated flavoring reagents employed, being largely mixed with sugar
before using. Not to be included in the permissible materials in the
manufacture of confectionery are any powdered mineral substances or
mineral substances of any kind (except such as are incident to the
manufacture of the product as the natural constituents of the raw
material), poisonous or harmful colors or flavors, and fermented,
vinous, and distilled liquors and drugs of all kinds.
Under adulterations the question of what is harmful or hurtful in such
material will be more fully discussed.
=Method of Manufacture.=--Each manufacturer has his own method of
mixing, flavoring, and coloring his products and these are mostly
trade secrets. A general statement, however, may be made regarding the
method of procedure. The saccharine substances are usually dissolved
in water and brought to the proper consistency by heating. The colors
and flavors are added during such part of the process as is most
favorable to their incorporation and retention. The mass, when of the
proper consistence, is molded into the various forms in which candies
are found in commerce and in many cases polished in revolving drums of
copper or other polishing device. It would be useless to undertake,
even if they were known, to describe the manifold methods employed to
secure the fancy and high-class confections which are found upon the
market.
=Crystallized Fruits and Flowers.=--When fruits and flowers are treated
with sugar sirup which is subsequently allowed to crystallize there are
produced what is known as candied or crystallized flowers or fruit.
These substances in this case become confections and should be judged
by the same standards as the straight candy.
=Food Value of Candy.=--The food value of confectionery or candy is not
as a rule considered, since it is eaten more for its flavor and general
palatability and attractiveness than for its nutritive properties.
Nevertheless, the food value of candy is often very high and is
measured chiefly by the sugars it contains.
=Adulteration of Confections.=--The question of adulteration of
confectionery is one which is somewhat difficult to discuss, since
in the definition of confectionery and candies the incorporation of
added harmless colors and flavors is regarded as a legitimate process.
It is evident that because a confection is colored or flavored there
is no reason for the statement that it is adulterated. Confections
not being a natural product their coloring and flavoring cannot be
regarded as deceptive since neither process can be used in any sense
to deceive the purchaser. It follows, therefore, that any kind of a
harmless coloring or flavoring material will be a legitimate addition
to confectionery. The question, however, of what is harmful or harmless
is one difficult to decide. The manufacturer of coloring and flavoring
materials and the manufacturer of confectionery are always quite ready
to certify that the colors and flavors used are harmless to health.
On the other hand the physiological chemist, who stands apart from
the commercial point of view, may be led with difficulty to adopt the
same conclusions. It is evident there are some colors, especially
those of a vegetable character, which must be regarded as harmless.
Nearly all vegetables contain natural coloring materials, either
chlorophyll or derivatives therefrom, which are, without doubt, quite
harmless. The addition of coloring matter of a vegetable character to
confectionery is not regarded as in any way a harmful or deleterious
ingredient to the product. The same may be said of animal coloring
matter, since there are also natural constituents of animal substances
used such as cochineal, which, as is well known, is derived from an
insect, and hence the addition of such a substance to a food product
may be regarded in the present light of our knowledge as harmless.
There are also synthetical preparations which from a chemical point
of view and in so far as known from the physical point of view are
closely identified with vegetable substances. These preparations
may, _a priori_, be regarded as substances not injurious to health.
On the other hand almost the whole range of mineral colors which
formerly were so much used in tinctorial art, namely, the oxids and
salts of metals such as copper, chromium, lead, arsenic, etc., are
regarded by practically all authorities as injurious substances and
not suitable for introduction into food products. There is left then
for consideration in this respect that vast body of coloring matters
derived from coal tar and known in general as anilin dyes, whether
directly made from anilin or not. On the question of wholesomeness of
these bodies there is much division of opinion. Of the many which are
known, however, only a few are regarded as harmless. Perhaps thirty
different dyes would cover the whole number which have been pronounced
harmless by expert observers. The experts, however, who have rendered
decisions in this matter do not agree as to the harmlessness of the
list just mentioned. Some of them include some portions of the list and
exclude others from their commendation. It so happens, therefore, that
only a few so-called anilin dyes have really escaped condemnation at
the hands of some of the experts. The general character of anilin dyes
and the well known poisonous property of the radical from which they
are derived leads to the supposition that it would be very unsafe in
any case to make an absolute statement in favor of any of them. These
bodies, as a rule, undergo no change in the metabolic processes. They
pass in and through the cellular tissues of the body and are excreted
mostly in the urine and hence place a burden upon the excretory cells
which, although light, is unnecessary. The possibility, too, might be
taken into consideration of a direct toxic effect which they may exert
although in a minute degree upon the cell structures through which
they pass. It is certain that these bodies can exert no beneficial
effect upon the structure of the cells and it is hardly likely, in
the doctrine of probabilities, that they should be neutral. It is
advisable, therefore, to suggest to the manufacturer of confectionery
as well as of the other food products, but of confections in
particular, the wisdom of seeking some method of producing attractive
colors in their products among sources which are open to no suspicion.
It might be that this would be attended with some expense and that
the dyes which are unobjectionable may be more costly. This, however,
should be a matter of very small consideration to the manufacturer who
has the welfare of the public at heart. The price of confectionery, as
is well known, is out of proportion to the prices of the raw materials
of which it is made. The quantity of coloring matter which confections
contain is acknowledged to be minute so that whether the colors cost a
dollar or five dollars a pound makes little difference in the actual
cost of the product and the highest priced colors would not diminish
the percentage of profit to any noticeable degree.
Aside from the use of harmful colors and flavors, which are always
to be regarded as adulterants, there are many other practices in
connection with the manufacture of confections that may be classed as
objectionable. Most of these have, however, been forbidden by law in
the states and in other countries and are now forbidden by our national
law. The addition of ground mineral matter was long known as one of
the principal adulterations of confectionery. This, in my opinion, is
no longer practiced in the United States. The substances used were
commonly known as terra alba, that is, ground talc, powdered silicates,
powdered chalk, or ground marble--in fact any white powdered mineral
substance. The object of this adulteration is manifestly to increase
the weight.
_Poisonous Mineral Colors._--In the early days of the manufacturing
of confectionery salts of lead and compounds of chromium, as well as
compounds of other metals such as copper, etc., were employed for
coloring purposes. The use of these bodies is now extremely rare,
however, if it is ever practiced, and hence may be regarded as a
practice of the past.
_Glucose Containing Harmful Substances._--The bleaching of glucose by
sulfurous acid naturally leads to the introduction into candies of this
substance. It is present in minute quantities, however, and if the
glucose is carefully made, I may add, in negligible quantities. The
danger of over-sulfuring must not be forgotten and it is difficult to
draw a line of demarkation between what may be regarded as negligible
and injurious quantities. The abandonment, therefore, of the use of
sulfur must be regarded as the only safe way of protecting the consumer
against an adulteration of this kind. The use of poisonous flavoring
is perhaps more extensive than is generally recognized, especially of
that flavor which is supposed to be characteristic of the kernel of
the peach, namely, benzaldehyde or its derivatives. There is also a
small amount of hydrocyanic acid in the kernels of the peach, almond,
etc. This is a very deadly substance and no artificial preparation
of it should ever be used. If there be any flavor of this kind in a
confection it should be derived solely from the almond or similar nuts
which contain only minute traces. While nature, as is well known,
places poisonous substances in many food products, they have been so
skilfully combined as to render their effect the least harmful. When
man produces a similar poisonous article artificially and adds it to
a food, the poisonous effect thereof is undoubtedly increased. Hence
the use of artificial harmful flavors of any kind in a food product,
especially confectionery, is utterly reprehensible and unpardonable.
_Alcohol._--Alcohol has been placed in different forms in
confectionery, sometimes enclosed as drops within the saccharine
substance. This must be regarded as an adulteration of a very
reprehensible character, since these products are eaten so much by
children and the danger of injury from the alcohol and the danger of
forming a habit from eating it in this way is extremely great. This
form of adulteration is specifically forbidden by the national law.
In view of the fact that children and young persons of both sexes,
and especially girls, eat confectionery so largely it is incumbent
upon every manufacturer to see that no raw material is employed in his
processes and no flavoring or coloring or other added ingredient used
which is in any way under suspicion as being a harmful or deleterious
substance. Manufacturers should remember that a mere certificate of
purity from the person making these substances is of little value
whatever. Even if the statements made in such certificates are true
they will always be under suspicion, because it would be supposed that
they were made for the purpose of furthering trade rather than for the
protection of the consumer. In the case of two experts of like honesty
and like industry, one employed for the purpose of giving a certificate
to the article of food and one whose researches are entirely
independent of any commercial relations, the public will generally give
the decision of the latter a greater weight. Inspection officers under
state and national food and drug acts should give especial attention to
the subject of confectionery as an article of diet almost universally
employed and consumed by a class of the community most susceptible to
injury.
HONEY.
Honey is defined as the nectar of flowers, gathered and stored by the
honey bee (_Apis melifica_). While the above is a good definition there
is often found in honey saccharine exudations of the plant other than
the nectar of flowers. Many plants contain sugar in their saps and when
an exudation of sap takes place and the water in the sap is evaporated
a saccharine residue remains which is also gathered by the bee. Many
trees, especially of the pine family, exude a sweet sap when stung by a
kind of louse (aphis) and this is also gathered by the bees. Thus while
there may be other exudations of the plant found in honey the fact
remains that the true honey is gathered exclusively from the nectar of
the flowering plant. A honey which is made by feeding bees sugar sirup
or other artificial sugar food cannot be regarded as a genuine article.
The feeding of bees, while a strictly legitimate practice, should be
confined to keeping them over periods of famine or the keeping of them
alive during the winter or at other times when they do not have access
to the flowering plant.
=Historical.=--Honey has been used by man for food from the remotest
antiquity. In fact, in earlier times honey was the only sugar substance
at the disposition of man. He had not yet learned the sources of great
supply which now are at his command or if he had he was not familiar
with the technical processes of preparing the commercial article.
Honey is approximately a pure saccharine substance and this, in
addition to its peculiar and, to most people, pleasant flavor, not only
gave it a vogue in the earlier times of necessity but has maintained it
in public favor when other and cheaper sources of saccharine substances
have been developed. In fact, at the present time it might be said
that honey owes its value upon the market not to the fact that it is
a saccharine body but that it contains flavors and aromas imparted to
it by the flower and by the bee which render it a luxury rather than a
necessity of life.
[Illustration: FIG. 83.--SWARM OF BEES ON BOUGH OF TREE.--(_Courtesy A.
I. Root Co._)]
=Preparation of Honey.=--While bees stored their honey in hollow
trees or other suitable places in earlier times this was a doubtful
source of supply. The bee tree is still an object of interest in every
neighborhood. Many wild animals, especially bears, are very fond of
honey and these animals were the robbers of the honey bee in the days
when such animals roamed the forests. Since the removal of the forests
to such a large extent in the interest of agriculture the bee tree is
becoming a curiosity rather than a matter of common occurrence. Wild
swarms of bees, therefore, at the present time, find other places
for building their hives than the hollows of trees. They are likely
to light upon almost any point that affords them a temporary support
and attempt, at least, to form a colony. Unless, however, they have
some natural protection such as that of a hollow tree, these attempts
are usually unsuccessful. In Fig. 83 is shown a swarm of bees, which,
gathering on the bough of a tree, have bent it to the ground.
[Illustration: FIG. 84.--ARTIFICIAL BEE HIVES UNDER SHADE OF GRAPE
VINE.--(_Courtesy of A. I. Root Co._)]
=Artificial Hives.=--The artificial hive has now become an inseparable
incident in bee culture. The various forms of hives and their relative
merits cannot be discussed in this manual. There are many special works
on bee culture in which all these mechanical appliances, which are so
favorable to the storing of large quantities of honey, are described.
The most approved form is that which permits the depositing of the
combs in small boxes which when filled usually weigh about one pound
and which can be easily removed from the comb and are in a condition to
send to market. The proper method of locating bee hives is indicated in
Fig. 84.
The art of bee keeping is not easily acquired and it requires a
natural aptitude as well as long study and research to become an
expert bee keeper. Experts differ in their opinion respecting the
relative value of hives, and rival manufacturers also do much in the
way of advertising one or another of these contrivances. All of them
that have merits are such as protect the bee, during the months when
it is idle, from starvation and disease and afford it every possible
facility for storing its treasures during the season of activity.
=Distribution of the Honey-producing Industry.=--Every part of the
United States is suitable in some respects for the production of honey.
Naturally the extreme northern portion, where the winters are very
severe, are less favorable than the southern portion for two reasons,
first, the difficulty of keeping the bees over the winter is greater in
the North, and, second, the season of activity is much shorter. On the
other hand the honey which is gathered from the northern flowers is, as
a rule, more highly prized than that gathered from the more southern
regions. California, perhaps, is the greatest honey-producing state in
the Union, though portions of New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and
many other states have developed great industries. It is very common
also for the farmer to have a number of bee hives, particularly for
storing honey for domestic consumption, so that the making of honey is
almost as common on the farm as the making of butter.
[Illustration: FIG. 85.--A FRAME CONTAINING 24 BOXES OF
HONEY.--(_Courtesy A. I. Root Co._)]
=Comb Honey.=--The honey which is produced in the hives and removed
without extracting it from the comb is known as “comb honey.” As
indicated above, at the present time large amounts of this product are
made by the filling of small boxes of a size intended for the market.
This is, by far, the most convenient method of handling the product.
A frame showing 24 boxes of comb honey as withdrawn from the hive is
illustrated in Fig. 85. It has also the additional merit of a practical
guarantee of the product. In Fig. 86 is seen a box of honey in which
the capping is incomplete. Many mechanical attempts have been made
to imitate the genuine comb and in many respects a certain degree of
success has been attained. In fact nearly all of the commercial comb
honey of the present day is made in combs built upon an artificial
base in which the cells of the comb are started and sometimes built
to a considerable depth. The bee is then only required to fill out
the remaining portion of the cell and, after filling it with honey,
to cover it over. Thus the labor of the bee is greatly diminished in
respect of comb building and its energies preserved for a greater
production of honey. It must be admitted that honey preserved in the
comb has a delicacy and daintiness which does not attach to that
which has been separated and sold in a liquid form. The comb honey,
therefore, commands a fancy price.
[Illustration: FIG. 86.--SHOWING BOX OF HONEY PARTIALLY
CAPPED.--(_Courtesy A. I. Root Co._)]
=Extracted Honey.=--Where honey is to be shipped to any great distance
it is found difficult, if not impossible, to transport it in the
comb, since the jarring and exposure incident to transit break the
delicate cells and allow the honey to escape. For commercial purposes,
therefore, especially when honey is to be shipped to distant points,
it is separated from the comb at the place of manufacture. The usual
method of separation is by centrifugal force. The caps of the cells
being removed, the boxes which contain them are placed in a centrifugal
machine and the honey forced out by centrifugal action. The boxes are
then returned to the hives where they are refilled by the bees. By this
process extracted honey can be made in great quantities and for a much
lower price than the same quantity of honey still held in the combs.
The principal objection to extracted honey is due to the fact that it
has been subjected to such extensive adulterations as will be mentioned
further on. There can be no valid objection made to the character of
extracted honey when it has been prepared under competent direction and
with the skill and care which are required by the professional honey
makers.
=Strained Honey.=--Strained honey is a variety of extracted honey which
from the broken or fragmentary combs is allowed to flow by gravity or
by gentle pressure. In such cases, naturally, the cell or honey comb is
destroyed. The residual comb is sent to market as beeswax.
=Properties of Honey.=--Honey at ordinary temperature is a viscous
liquid of a tint varying from almost colorless to almost black,
according to the character of the flowers and the season in which it
is gathered and the length of time of storage. It contains from 15
to 25 percent of water and usually has a small quantity of foreign
substances, incident to its manufacture, such as particles of dust,
pollen, fragments of bees, fragments of comb, etc. Honey, therefore,
is a somewhat concentrated solution of sugars and these sugars are the
natural products of the flowers of plants, modified to some extent, by
passing through the organism of the bee. In passage through the bee the
honey is impregnated with a small quantity of an acid, named from the
ant, formic acid. It also suffers other changes which are very strongly
marked in flavor and aroma but which cannot be very readily traced
chemically.
=Polarization.=--Pure honey, that is, honey gathered solely from
the saccharine exudations of flowers at the ordinary temperature of
the laboratory, namely, from 65 to 85 degrees F., has the faculty
of turning a plane of polarized light to the left, which is just
the opposite of the optical properties of cane sugar. Whenever a
honey shows a right-handed polarization it is a cause for suspicion
respecting its purity. A honey of this kind has either been made by
feeding the bees a sugar sirup or by the gathering, on the part of
the bees, of the saccharine exudation, before alluded to, known as
honey dew. It is perfectly true that bees may have gathered honey in
exceptional cases, that is, the saccharine exudations of the plants in
general, which will show a right-handed polarization, but this occurs
so infrequently as to render it advisable to regard such a honey as
abnormal in quality. The polariscope, therefore, becomes an almost
indispensable implement in a study of the purity of honey.
=Water.=--As has already been stated, the usual content of water in
honey is from 15 to 25 percent. It very rarely falls below 15 percent
and also very rarely goes above 20 percent. In extremely dry periods
it is evident that the content of water becomes less, while in times
of rain or at the first advent of the flowers the content of water
will be greater. The bee naturally modifies to some extent the content
of water in order that the organism may dispose of the product. If
the content of water is too small the bee handles the product with
difficulty and if the content of water is too large difficulty in
gathering and storing the honey on account of the excessive fluidity
is experienced. As before intimated, the color of the honey depends
largely upon the flower from which it is made. White clover gives a
honey almost water-white and among all the honey-producing flowers
is perhaps regarded the most highly. On the other hand a plant like
the golden rod, which flowers later in the summer, produces honey of
a deep yellow and sometimes almost a black tint. The color of honey,
therefore, indicates not only the season of the year at which it is
stored, becoming darker as the autumn advances, but also the nature of
the flower from which it is produced.
=Ash.=--The content of mineral matter in honey is extremely small and
perhaps is largely due to the mechanical entanglement of dust in the
nectar rather than the exudation of actual mineral matter itself from
the flower. In some cases the amount of mineral matter is so small as
to become a mere trace while in other cases it has been found as high
as .3 of one percent. A high content of ash denotes the exposure of the
nectar previous to gathering to an infection of dust or to some other
abnormal condition. A high ash content, therefore, always indicates
that further study should be made respecting the purity of the product.
=Sucrose.=--The amount of sugar (cane sugar) which is found in honey
is in normal conditions not very large, but in exceptional cases the
sugar content, that is, the sucrose content, may reach as high as 8 or
10 percent. At such times the honey has only a slightly left-handed
polarization or may become right-handed. Whenever the content of
sucrose in honey reaches as high as 8 percent there is ground for
suspicion that the bees have been fed on sugar sirup, or that some
other form of adulteration has been practiced.
=Dextrose and Levulose.=--The two principal saccharine components of
honey are the sugars known as dextrose and levulose, in other words,
taken together, inverted sugar, that is, sugar made by the inversion
of cane sugar or sucrose. In the nectar of flowers these two sugars
exist almost in the proportion which would be expected if they had been
formed from sucrose or ordinary sugar by a simple chemical process.
Sometimes one of these sugars and sometimes the other may be in slight
excess. The names of these two sugars indicate their active properties.
Dextrose is a right-handed sugar, that is, it turns the plane of
polarization to the right. In this respect it resembles sucrose or
ordinary cane sugar, although it is not so strongly right-handed.
Levulose, as the name implies, is a sugar which turns the plane of
polarization to the left. The temperature of the solution has a very
marked influence upon this active property,--the lower the temperature
the greater the left-handed rotation. A honey which has a strong
left-handed polarization, therefore, at ordinary temperature is one
in which the levulose is present in full proportion or very slight
excess. The other constituents of honey, namely, the pollen which is
mechanically entangled therein, the dust or dirt which is mechanically
attached thereto, the formic acid imparted thereto by the bee, and the
other ingredients, are extremely minute in quantity and are not, as a
rule, expressed as percentage constituents. In fact the most of them
are merely accidental constituents.
=Adulteration of Honey.=--Perhaps there is no common food product,
with the possible exception of condimental substances such as pepper
and spices, that has been subjected to such extensive and general
adulterations as honey.
The high price of honey, its position as a luxury as well as a food
product, and its attractive flavor and aroma have all combined to
make it a favorite product for adulteration. In addition to this the
invention in the last third of a century of an artificial product
resembling honey very closely in its physical properties and being
itself a saccharine body, namely glucose, has put into the hands of
the adulterator an ideal substitute for the natural product. There is
only one reason why the adulteration of honey with glucose has not been
more extensive than it is, namely, the ease with which the chemist can
detect it. The chemical properties of glucose are very distinct from
those of honey itself. In spite of this fact, however, the adulteration
of honey has been most extensively exploited and until the methods
of detecting it were developed it was almost universally practiced.
Glucose is a water-white saccharine semi-viscous mass made by the
hydrolysis of starch with an acid and therefore forms the body upon
which the adulterated article can be built. It has a low saccharine
value and cannot be used alone but must necessarily be mingled with the
honey. The amount of real honey used is, as a rule, a minimum to give
the flavor and taste of the genuine article to the admixture. It is
believed at the present time that this method of adulterating honey is
very much less practiced than in former years and this is due, as has
been said, to the ease with which it can be detected and also, it may
be added, to the increased rigidity of national, state, and municipal
inspection, rendering it difficult to place an adulterated article such
as this upon the market without detection. Incalculable harm has been
done to the honey trade of the country by the practice of this style of
adulteration. Only liquid honey, that is separated or strained, can be
easily adulterated with glucose. Often, however, an attempt has been
made to still further deceive the customer by placing a portion of the
genuine comb honey in a jar and then filling it with the adulterated
mixture, giving the appearance of the genuine article to a certain
extent to the whole.
_Adulteration with Inverted Sugar._--A much more subtle form of
adulteration, and therefore one much more difficult to detect, is the
adulteration of honey with a sirup made from inverted sugar, that
is, the product obtained from cane sugar by the action of a dilute
acid. This chemical process, as has already been indicated, converts
the cane sugar into a mixture of dextrose and levulose. These sugars
are identical, for chemical purposes, with the natural dextrose and
levulose of honey. The chemist, therefore, has a much more difficult
task to perform when he attempts to diagnose the presence of artificial
dextrose and levulose in a mixture of the natural product. There
are, however, certain qualities of ash, as well as other chemical
constituents, which guide him in his work. While his conclusions do not
have that definiteness which attaches to the examination of a honey
adulterated with glucose they are sufficiently distinctive in most
cases to determine whether or not a sophistication has been practiced.
_Adulteration with Cane Sugar._--A very simple form of adulteration
and one which cannot be practiced to any extent without being easily
detected is the admixture of a sirup of pure cane sugar to honey. As
long as the quantity added is not sufficient to change the optical
properties, so that the mixture becomes right-handed in its rotation,
the admixture of a small quantity of cane sugar sirup might escape the
detection of the chemist. Inasmuch, however, as cane sugar exists only
in small quantities in honey the regular and persistent occurrence
of much cane sugar in a honey would be a just cause for suspicion,
although its occasional occurrence might be due to purely natural
causes.
MISCELLANEOUS.
=Mince Meat.=--Under the term “mince meat” is included a large variety
of mixtures used chiefly for pie making and composed of meats,
fruits, evaporated fruits, spices, and sometimes alcohol in some of
its forms. It is not possible to describe any particular combination
which would be entitled to bear the name alone, since each housewife
and each manufacturer follows a method of her and his own. A general
description, however, may be given of the manufactured article which,
unfortunately, has largely displaced the mince meat of domestic
manufacture.
Judged by the name alone, meat of some kind would be an important
constituent of this substance. This, however, is not the case. Very
few of the mince meats contain more than 10 percent of meat, a large
number contain less and quite a large number contain none at all. Suet
and tallow are sometimes employed as a substitute for meat, which
apparently satisfies the conscience of the manufacturer even if it
does not suit the palate of the consumer. Evaporated fruits, such as
raisins, etc., form important constituents of the mixture and also
fresh fruits, in domestic manufacture, are very often used. Spices of
various kinds are also employed and the mixture is sometimes flavored
with brandy or some alcoholic beverage.
_Pressed Mince Meat._--The mixture which is above described may be
dried and pressed, or pressed without drying, into a hard firm cake
which renders it more suitable for transportation and improves its
keeping qualities. There is perhaps little difference between the
unpressed and the pressed mince meat except in the matter of a binder.
The binder consists usually of starch or flour, which serves not only
to give additional weight to the mixture but also to hold the particles
together. Starch or flour is sometimes used in unpressed mince meat
also. There is another advantage in using starch or flour, namely, that
these bodies absorb large quantities of moisture and thus increase the
weight of the mixture. Mince meat cannot be recommended on sanitary
grounds, since the method of manufacture is not always known and the
materials from which it is made are not always selected with the sole
view to the excellence of the raw materials and the health of the
consumer. The meat when used often represents waste material from the
table or factory and the fruits are not necessarily those which look
best but probably are those usually of the worst appearance and the
combinations are made with a view of meeting the ordinary demands of
the market rather than of catering to the tenets of sanitation.
It is not the intention of this manual to discourage any kind of
legitimate manufacturing industry, but, in view of the general
character of substances of this kind, if they are to be used at all,
it seems advisable that they should be made in the home, of material
selected by the housewife and in a manner which requires no special
treatment for its preservation, rather than to be purchased at random
in the open market, made of materials of unknown origin put together by
an unknown process.
_Adulteration of Mince Meat._--Assuming that the materials which
have been selected are wholesome, sanitary, and of fine quality, the
principal adulterations to which mince meat is subjected are the
addition of chemical preservatives and artificial colors. Inasmuch as
mince meat is not expected to be of any very definite color the use of
artificial colors is not common. On the other hand when mince meat is
made in large quantities, transported long distances, and sometimes
kept for a long while on the shelves of the grocery, the subject of
preservation becomes a matter of serious importance. It is naturally
inconvenient to preserve a mixture of this kind by sterilization,
though this has been accomplished. The method of drying and pressing
has already been described. This, of course, detracts somewhat from the
physical appearance of the product. The common method is the addition
of a chemical preservative. At the present time I believe that benzoate
of soda is the one very commonly used, and it will probably continue
to be so used, by most manufacturers until national and state laws or
an enlightened public opinion eliminate it from food products.
=Pie Fillers.=--Nearly allied to mince meat in its character is a large
class of substances known as pie fillers. Mince meat itself, as may
be seen from the description which has been given of it, is nothing
but a pie filler of a particular kind. Unfortunately the demand of the
domestic cuisine is for substances prepared, or partially prepared,
for immediate consumption. In this way the demand for predigested and
precooked food has become a very general one and the pie filler is a
legitimate effort on the part of the manufacturers to meet this growing
demand. It is far easier for domestic purposes to make a pie of an
already prepared material than to go to the trouble of constructing
the material in the kitchen. A housewife loses sight of the fact that
the fresh domestic pie is probably the only one which, for sanitary
and other reasons, should be admitted to the table. As the pie fillers
are as varied in character as the different kinds of pies from which
they are made, no definite standard can be prescribed for them. Fruits
are, naturally, the predominating constituent in these fillers and
the condiments and spices used are certainly unobjectionable. If it
be possible to prepare spiced fruits and keep them until used for
pies there would seem to be no objection to the manufacture, long
before using, of these substances in large quantities. The difficulty,
however, of preserving the freshness and aroma of a fruit or other
substance used for pie making is so evident as to need no particular
emphasis.
_Adulteration of Pie Fillers._--The common adulterations in pie fillers
are artificial colors, when they are designed to represent fruit of a
special character, and preservatives. The same remarks which were made
respecting these bodies in mince meat apply with equal force to all
kinds of pie fillers. Bodies of this kind are evidently only properly
made on the premises where they are consumed and immediately used after
manufacture. The addition of artificial colors and preservatives in
such substances, while apparently necessary in the present condition of
trade, is wholly objectionable from every other point of view, and in
such case trade conditions should properly give way to the demands of
public and private sanitation and hygiene.