38 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



CANE OR BEET 



Tlie subject of the relative food values of 

 cane and beet sugar has, we notice, again been 

 raised; this time in California, where the beet 

 sugar proi)rietors are starting a propagandist 

 campaign with the view of convincing the 

 public that these two kinds of sugar, when 

 refined, have itlentically the same value for 

 food puiposes. Dr. \Mley, the late chief of 

 the Bureau of Chemistry of the United States, 

 is quoted as having stated that "refined sugar 

 whether it is made from cane, beet, corn or 

 any other product is the same chemically and 

 physically." Had Dr. Wiley used the term 

 "sucrose" instead of "refined" sugar we should 

 have had no exception to take to this state- 

 ment. Up to the ]>resent it is recognized that 

 sucrose obtained from the sugar cane, has, in 

 its pure form, the same chemical composition, 

 exhibits the same chemical action, crystalise 

 in the same form, and behaves in the same 

 manner to polarised light as the sucrose from 

 the beet. It is true that some chemical 

 authorities, with the idea probably that there 

 does exist some difference between the sugars 

 from the sources, style that from the sugar 

 beet "betose," confining the term "sucrose" 

 to the product of the sugar cane; but up to 

 the present time, as mentioned above, no 

 physical or chemical difference has been dis- 

 covered between the two products. But Dr. 

 Wiley in using the term "refined" sugar, tra- 

 verses other ground, and lays his statement 

 open to great objection. Is he prepared to 

 state that from a dietic point of view commer- 

 cial refined sugar is identical with pure su- 

 crose and that there are no residual impurities 

 from the raw sugar left in the refined sugar? 

 As we have over and over again pointed out 

 in these column, the question of the rela- 

 tive value of cane and beet sugars does not lie 

 in the sugar proper, but in the other bodies 

 present with it. British sugar consumers are, 

 from long association, conversant with the 

 rich aroma and lusciousness of raw cane 

 sugars, but the repulsive smell and "f rightful- 

 ness" of raw beet are unknown to them. In 

 both cases the refining process eliminates the 

 impvu'ities to a great or less extent, but com- 

 mercial refined sugars cannot be entirely free 

 from them. The quantity may be so small 

 as not to be recognizable by chemical analy- 

 sis, but it is there all the same, and no one 

 who has had an opportunity of comparing the 

 two classes of sugar in their raw state could 

 possibly believe that commercial refined 

 sugars from the two sources could be identical. 

 It may be said that, if the residual impurities 

 are so small, they can have no material effect 

 upon the value of the sugar. The trend of 

 modern scientific views is not in this direction. 

 Recent researches go to show that minute, 

 hitherto ignored constituents of food are of 

 the greatest value in dietetics. Thus, the 

 coating of the rice grain contains in minute 



quantities a body so important that a diet o f 

 polished rice produces the nerve disease, beri- 

 beri, whereas a diet of unpolished rice does 

 not. It is now recognized also that there ex- 

 ists in milk, in proportion so small as to be 

 unrecognizable chemically, a body which is 

 essential for its satisfactory assimilation by 

 infants. It is the presence of these "acces- 

 sories" which, according to modern dietetics, 

 are necessary for the realization of the full 

 value of the food. The aroma and flavoring 

 bodies of cane juice which raw cane sugars 

 contain are known to be of the greatest value 

 as palate stimulants, wiiile those of raw beet 

 sugar are, to say the least of it, impossible. 

 Is it not perfectly rational, therefore, to con- 

 clude that refined sugar prepared from raw 

 cane sugar, which still contains some of the 

 special characteristics of it, must be better 

 from a dietetic point of view than refined 

 sugar prepared from raw beet? Dr. Goulston' 

 valuable results from treatment of some forms 

 of heart disease by sugar in which cane sugar 

 is insisted upon, iSir Ernest Shackleton's em- 

 phatic insistence upon cane sugar, even when 

 refined, for Antarctic food purpo.ses, the hos- 

 tile attitude of bees towards beet sugar, al- 

 though it is only fair to say that American 

 sugar producers deny it, all go to show that 

 there is an important difference between cane 

 and beet sugar in favor of the former. As 

 Professor Carmody recently stated before the 

 Board of Agriculture of Trinidad, "the public 

 have not been told that beet sugar is not fit 

 for consumption unless the natural impurities 

 are reduced by manufacturing processes to a 

 very small percentage." The results of the 

 war, by which cane sugar has been almost en- 

 tirely substituted for beet sugar in this coun- 

 try will doubtless bring home to the minds of 

 the consumers in a practical form how far 

 more valuable cane sugar is than beet as an 

 article of diet. — -From West India Committee 

 Circular. 



RIO CAUTO GRINDING 



Grinding is continuing regularly at the in- 

 genio Rio Cauto, the daily average of sacks of 

 sugar elaborated being 300. The company 

 has constructed barracks for its woi'kmen, an 

 arrangement which is found better for both 

 parties. So far none of the cane of the com- 

 pany's own fields has been cut, as they are 

 using up that contracted for from outside. 



The following shows the quantity and value 

 of the e.xports of galvanized sheets from the 

 United Kingdom to Cuba for 1914 compared 

 with 1913: 



Quantity 



1913 1914 



2,521 tons 961 tons 



Value 

 1913 1914 



$158,283 $59,707 



