274 ADULTERATIONS OF CONDENSED MILK 



obvious from the fact that its presence defeats the very object 

 for which sucrose is added. Instead of serving as a. preservative, 

 as is the case with the best refined, granulated cane sugar, glucose 

 acts as a most effective fermentative. It has been explained that 

 the presence in sucrose of traces of invert sugar, or levulose and 

 glucose, causes condensed milk to ferment. Glucose belongs to 

 the monosaccharides. Its chemical formula, like that of levulose, 

 is C 6 H 12 O 6 , it oxidizes readily and under the influence of yeast 

 and other micro-organisms it ferments, yielding mainly alcohol 

 and carbon dioxide. Its presence in condensed milk, therefore, 

 is prone to start fermentation, and the manufacturer who uses 

 it with a view of lessening the cost of manufacture of condensed 

 milk is, indeed, practicing poor economy. There is n adultera- 

 tion of sweetened condensed milk that will produce such in- 

 evitable disaster as the addition to it of glucose. Aside from this 

 fact, the law prohibits the addition of anything except sucrose. 



Addition of Bi-Carbonate of Soda, Ammonium Hydroxide, 

 Lime Oxide and Lime Hydrate and Other Alkali. These alkalies 

 and alkaline earths are frequently added to evaporated milk, for 

 the purpose of neutralizing excess of acid, or balancing the ash 

 constituents, in order to diminish the viscosity and tendency to 

 curdle, to facilitate the sterilizing process, and to prevent the 

 milk from curdling when exposed to heat. If used in reasonable 

 quantities, they interfere in no way with the quality and health- 

 fulness of the product, and may in exceptional cases 'prevent 

 great loss. If used in excess, the milk will foam, very badly in 

 the vacuum pan, which renders the process of condensing a diffi- 

 cult one and the finished product has a bitter flavor. Under 

 ordinary conditions, their use is entirely unnecessary and simply 

 means additional labor and expense. The above agents and also 

 viscogen, are sometimes used with the view of thickening sweet- 

 ened condensed milk and increasing the output. Experimental 

 results, 1 however, showed that these agents cannot be used in 

 large enough quantities to produce the above results without 

 materially lowering the quality of the product. 



Addition of Cream of Tartar. Cream of tartar is used ex- 

 tensively in the manufacture of candies and caramels. Its purpose 



1 Hunziker, experiments not published. 



