HOME ECONOMICS AND EDUCATION 617 



In the case of alum baking powders, or alum-phosphate baking 

 powders, there seems to be a difference of opinion as to whether 

 they are injurious to health or not. It often happens that the re- 

 action is not complete in the process of bread-making. In all such 

 cases, alum is left in the bread. This is known to be an astringent 

 and irritant to the mucous membranes. Even when the reaction in 

 bread-making is complete, the alumina hydrate is undoubtedly 

 soluble to some extent in the juices of the stomach and albuminous 

 substances, thus irritating weak stomachs, and is undoubtedly in- 

 jurious in such cases. England and France, the two countries which 

 have been most careful in regulating the sale of human foods, vir- 

 tually prohibit the sale of alum powders. Many eminent disinter- 

 ested scientists condemn their use in no uncertain language. 

 (Florida Exp. Sta. Bui. 54; Dept. Agr. F. B. 121, 256; 0. E. S. Buls. 

 185, 227.) 



SUGAR AS FOOD. 



Extent of the Use of Sugar. The pleasant flavor of sugar, 

 together with what we now know of its nutritive value, will account 

 for its great popularity as a food. It may almost be said that people 

 eat as much sugar as they can get, and the consumption of sugar 

 in different countries is, in general, proportional to their wealth. 

 The English-speaking people are the largest consumers of sugar. 

 In 1895 England consumed 86 pounds per capita and the United 

 States 64 pounds, although still larger amounts are said to be con- 

 sumed in sugar-growing districts, largely in the form of ripe cane. 



By the term sugar as here used, is meant cane sugar, so called 

 because it was first manufactured from the sugar cane, although 

 it is also found in the juice of a number of plants. Besides cane 

 sugar there are a number of other sugars, as grape sugar, fruit 

 sugar, and milk sugar. There are other sugars besides cane sugar. 

 The one most frequently met with is dextrose, or grape sugar, which 

 is much less sweet than cane sugar and differs from it chemically. 

 It may be seen in yellowish grains in the raisin and is found in 

 small quantities in other fruits. 



If cane-sugar is cooked with an acid, such as vinegar or cream 

 of tartar, a part of it is changed to a form of sugar known as glu- 

 cose. Glucose is much less sweet than cane-sugar and does not 

 crystallize easily. The presence of glucose in a cane-sugar solution 

 retards crystallization, and hence is useful in much of our sugar 

 cookery. It may be purchased. 



The corn-syrup on the market is made by cooking starch with 

 an acid. The starch is changed to glucose. Such a syrup is notice- 

 ably less sweet than sugar and crystallizes much less readily than a 

 syrup made from either ordinary sugar or maple-sugar. It is also 

 very much cheaper. Maple sugar is one form of so-called cane-sugar. 

 In the manufacture of maple-syrup, acid, present as impurities, 

 produces a small amount of glucose and this aids in preventing 

 crystallization. 



All sugars are carbohydrate and are useful to supply energy. 

 They are almost completely digested and very quickly available 



