98 FOOD SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS 



slowly changes to sugar, and after long-continued heating not 

 a trace of it remains. When the starch has been completely 

 changed to sugar, chalk or soda is thrown into the liquid mass 

 in order to neutralize the surplus acid. The entire mass is 

 then filtered, and the filtrate is boiled down to a thick, straw- 

 colored, transparent substance about three fifths as sweet as 

 cane sugar. The sweetening thus made is usually called corn 

 sirup, because it is made from cornstarch and has the thickness 

 of a sirup ; it is also often called glucose, because of its simi- 

 larity to the sugar found in grapes and other fruits. Prac- 

 tically all of the table sirups sold to-day are corn sirup to which 

 color and flavor have been added, the desired flavor being ob- 

 tained by mixing some real molasses with the corn sirup. In- 

 ferior jams and jellies are usually thickened by artificial glucose 

 and the filling of cheaper candies is almost universally artificia 

 sugar. The thick sugary mass can be easily worked into fondant 

 and made the basis of candies. Since glucose is less sweet than 

 cane sugar, confectioners work into it a small amount of cane 

 sugar, or else sweeten the corn sugar with a bit of saccharine, a 

 coal tar product three hundred times as sweet as sugar. Be- 

 cause starch and acid are cheap, glucose is inexpensive, and 

 confections made from it can be sold at lower prices than 

 those made from sucrose. So far as is now known, carefully 

 prepared artificial sugar is not harmful, but is easily digested 

 and assimilated. The original outcry against glucose was 

 caused by the carelessness shown in its manufacture, the failure 

 to neutralize the acid used, and the use of undesirable chem- 

 icals to bleach it for use in candies. Artificial sugar is a sub- 

 stitute, however, and its presence in food should be shown by 

 a label. Saccharine is harmful and materials sweetened with 

 it are injurious. 



Vinegar and its artificial preparation. Pure or genuine 

 vinegar consists of the fermented juices of fruits and grains, 



