Morning journal and courier., 1880-04-10
Saturday NoraIng. April 10, 1880.
THE GLUCOSE FRAUD.

THE GLUCOSE FRAUD
 Glucose is before the public again and also
 if the truth is told, in the mouths and stona-
 achs of the public to greater extent thar
 ever. number of the leading sugar re6nerl | of New York have issued 8 circular calling at- tsntion to the increasing use of the stuff 1T
 the adulteration of sugars. The msnipulatol
 buys sugars from the refners, adultsrstes
 them and then sells them at prices below the
 current rate for pure sugars. The adultera | ted article, under the name of thew process sugar." is quite popular and the business is | growing so that the number and capacity oi the manufactories of glucose are being large 1 ly increased. The refiners declare that the pure grades of sugar cannot long maintain 8 l contest against the mixed article if the people prefer to buy the latter, ard they are there fore doing what they can to let the people 1 know what fraud is being practiced upon them. Glucose is algo largely used to adul- terate sugar house syrup, and there is @ large demand for it for all kinds of manufacture in | which sweets are employed It is stated that l many of the candy manufacturers have sub stituted glucose for sugar, and do not even | mix the product of the cane in any of their preparations.
 A writer in the New York Journal of Com merce gives some reliable and timely infor- nation concerning the manufacture and use of glucose as an adulterant. To make glucose syrup, raw starch (chiefy from Indian corn) is mixed wi th water, and solution of sul- phuric Ecid and water is then added This compound is boiled for some time, until the action of the acid converts the starcby par tioies into swedish syrup. Pulver,zed chalk, lime or some other alkaline substance is then added; the acid unites with this, formings sul- phate of lime, and is thus deposited at the bottom of the vessel. The liquor is then drawn off, strained at first through bags, and afterward filtered through animal charcoal to abstract the coloring matter, leaving it clear and colorless. It is then boiled down to thick viseid syrup, resembling honey, without it's sweetness. This is mixed with the ordina- ry sugar-house syrup, and as it is very white the compound, although less sacchRrine than the syrup, is much lighter in color and great ly improved in appearance, bringing in mar ket even higher price than the unaduItera ted article. If "grspe sugar. is required all the water is boiled out of the starch and hard whitish substance is formed, which is ground into powder. It somewhat resembles very dry, nearly white cane sugar, but the particles ars not crystals, and it is not half as sweet as the product of the sugar cane
 The cost Of glucose depends, of course, upon the price of the raw material. About three gallons of syrup, or thirty pounds of the dry particles called sugar, can be made from one bushel of good Indian corn The cost of manufacturing must be small, as the refuse of the corn is sufficiently valuable, we are told, to cover the expense of this manipu- lation. The syrup sells for about 40 cents gallon and the dry product for about a4 cents per pound. With corn at 30 to 50 cents 8 bushel, as it averages near the places of largest production, and syrup at forty cents (three gallons from bushel. S1 20 D. the business is not likely to be abandoned. It is not to be wondered at that new glucose fac tories are sprineing up all over the West when the business is 80 profitable.
 If the public nnEst put glucose into their Rtomachs they are Auch interested in know ing whether it is fit fol that purpose or not. On this point there Ia much difference of opinion. The best authorities, however, in- cluding Professor Johnson, of he Yale soies- tifc School, seem to think that it is not es- pecially harmful if pure and properly pre- pared. As at present made, the glucose syrup leaves sharp, biting taste on the to,gue, and it is doubtful if it is harmless. But shsther glucose syrup and glucose sugar are injurious to health or not, they are frauds when soi1 for the real article. Let the re fners or eomeb,dy else tell us how to detect them.