SUGAR, MOLASSES, CONFECTIONS, AND HONEY. 711 



unless some statute is enacted establishing a standard by which these 

 products could be judged. 



For the purposes of this report a molasses or sirup is adulterated 

 whenever it contains glucose or any other substance which would not 

 be a natural product of sorghum, sugar cane, or the maple tree. Mo- 

 lasses or sirups which are made exclusively of the products of sorghum, 

 sugar cane, and maple sap can not be said to be adulterated in the 

 strict sense of the term, no matter what the method of their prepara- 

 tion may be. 



The sugar beet, as is noticed, is excluded from the above list because, 

 in so far as I know, no table sirups of any kind are ever made from the 

 product of the beet. On the other hand, a sirup made from a refined 

 beet sugar could not properly be said to be adulterated. Sirups made 

 from unrefined beet sugar, however, or the molasses resulting from the 

 manufacture of beet sugar, would contain so large a quantity of alka- 

 line materials as to be unfit for the table or for culinary purposes. 



It has already been noticed under the head of sugars that a certain 

 brand of sugar placed upon the market, viz, " yellow clarified," is 

 washed in the centrifugal machine with a solution of chloride of tin. 

 This tin would naturally find its way into the molasses, and being of a 

 poisonous nature, its presence in the molasses in any large quantity 

 would be highly objectionable. Molasses, therefore, which is the natural 

 product of the sugar cane, but which contains tin as a result of washing 

 the crystals in the centrifugal with that substance, should be con- 

 sidered adulterated. In looking for tin in a number of instances copper 

 also was found in the molasses. This copper doubtless comes from the 

 copper pans and copper coils used in evaporating the juices and sirups. 

 Its presence being merely accidental it could not be considered as an 

 adulteration. Copper salts are, however, not palatable, and their pres- 

 ence in a molasses or sirup is highly objectionable. 



In regard to glucose it may be said that its presence in molasses or 

 sirup is an adulteration unless the article containing it is distinctly so 

 marked. A few years ago, when sugars and molasses were higher 

 priced than they are now, the manufacture of sirups from glucose was 

 very profitable. The price of genuine molasses, however, has at the 

 present day fallen so low as to make the manufacture of glucose for the 

 above purpose much less profitable than before. The advantage of 

 using glucose, nevertheless, is very great aside from its cheapness. It 

 gives to a sirup a fine body and a light color. A molasses or sirup, there- 

 fore, made chiefly of glucose and flavored with the refuse molasses of 

 a refinery, makes a very attractive article for table use, in so far as ap- 

 pearance goes. In regard to wholesomeness also it is not possible to 

 condemn glucose. When properly made it is apparently as wholesome 

 an article of diet as cane sugar. In fact the starches which are con- 

 sumed in our foods are all converted into glucose during the process of 

 digestion, A glucose food, therefore, is a starch food already partially 



