The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-11-02
HEAVY LOSS OF
SUGAR STOPPED
Chemists Perfect Process Of
Protecting Raw Product From
Mold and Bacteria.
PREY ON SWEETENlNG FACTOR
At Least s1,5oo,ooO Worth of Sugar
Destroyed Yearly by Tiny, Greedy
orsanlsms-7o,o 100000 Pounds
is Estimate.

is Estimate.
Chicago, Ill.-More sugar will be
available for everybody through the
discovery of a process Of keeping II
from being injured by molds and bac'
terra.
Fully one per cent of the Cuban
crop, or about 100000 pounds Of
sugar year and worth at least 81 800
600, It Is estimated, has been destroyed
by the tiny, greedy organisms which
compete with the sweet tooth Of man
kind. AS the per capita consumption
of sugar In the United States Is ap.
proxlmately 1874 pounds annually the
amount hitherto consumed by the
$4,000 persons for a twelve month
period. This would keep the sugar
bowls Of large city full. Counting
each family as five persons, l75,000 Of
such groups could be kept sweet tenn
pered during this period from the
supply which has been wasted by the
invisible hordes.
Mr. Nicholas Kopeloff and Mrs Lii
Ian Kopelof, bacteriologist and as
slstant bacterlologst at the Louisiana
sugar experiment station In New Or
leans. and members of the American
Chemical society, have just completed
n bulletin on the method Of prevent
Ing the molds and bacteria from wrest.
ing sweet solace of the beet and cane
from mortals.
Loses 6weetnass.
Sugar loses It's sweetness because
molds consume the sucrose, which Is
Its sweetening factor. Although the
amount thus lost may be only frac'
ton OF one per cent. and far too slight
to be detected by the senses of taste
, or smell In many cases, II Is easily
determined by the polariscope, an In.
strument especially designed for
measuring the amount of sucrose pres.
ent. When sugar deterlorates not
only does the polarscope detect the
differences, but anyone who is SUN.
clently observant will note that II Will
actually cake larger spoonful TO give
the same sweetening power. Thus, II
a barrel OF raw sugar should be kept
through the summer months and II
is infected with harmful micro-organ-
isms. 1t might be necessary to use an
extra tablespoonful at the end Of the
summer to get the same sweetenIng
power that could be obtained before
/ deterioration took place. AS all sugar
J IL sold strictly on the polarlscoplc ba.
sis, even small losses aggregate huge
/ sums.
The usual source Of these molds is
/ the air, which contains millions Of MI
cro'organisms at rest and Ia clrcun-
/ ton Each individual mold, II It falls
on an object which can supply It with
sufficient food, such as sugar, can re-
/ produce 100000 more individuals OF
/ the same species 10 less than week,
/ This reproduction. however can only
take place In the presence Of sufficient
moisture, otherwise the organisms lie
dormant. Cane sugar primarily I'M
dergoes such lossea by deterioration
In transportation or storage. mainly
due to the absorption OF moisture by
sugar In damp weather or humid eli.
mates.
For example, sugars made in Cuba
are stored In the hdid Of vessel.
often with insufficient ventilation,
which causes them to Sweat" While
coming from n tropical climate into
cooler water the moisture condenses
on the surface of the sugar This
4 also occurs when sugar is stored for
my length OF time. especially at high
temperature, as In re1neres, where
some Is melted up at once aud the re
malnder is held in storage for varying
periods, as dictated by business needs,
Can Be Prevented.
Having Identified the Injurious mi.
cro-orgahlsms. Doctor and Mrs. 10
peloff developed a method by which
the quality Of a given sugar might he
determined In this respect BY simply
consulting a chart after a preliminary
analysis, one may now find out wheth
or or not a given sugar will deterIo
rate or lose Its sweetness in storage
The sugars which are unsafe to keep
may be melted up FIRST, the sounder
sugars being held In storage with
safety.
Doctor and Mrs Kopeloff, by max
Ing meteorological examinations at ey.
cry stage of the sugar-making proc
ess, have found that sugar deterlora
tlon can be prevented by substituting
dry or super-heated steam for water
in the final process of washing sugar
In the drums in which sugar is dried.
These centrlfugas, as they are called,
in their whlrlng suck up mir from the
floor which may be contaminated with
germs. Also II Is common practice to
make the color Of the sugar lighter
by washing the crystals with water,
which may be contaminated With
molds and bacteria.
In the new process, It is shown that
Try steam is successful in killing ovet
% per cent Of these avid molds ana
bacteria.
While the practice of steamiDg SD.
yars is not new one, the results are
shown to have a direct practical value
in eliminating losses which have beeu
D considerable factor In the American