Page:Foods and their adulteration; origin, manufacture, and composition of food products; description of common adulterations, food standards, and national food laws and regulations (IA foodstheiradulte02wile).pdf/409

 products cannot be regarded as an adulteration, because they reveal their own presence and are not added for the purpose of imitation or deception. As has been mentioned above, the manufacturer would save all criticism in such cases by a plain statement upon the label of the nature of the substance added.

Canned fruits properly preserved retain their natural aroma and flavor better than any other form of canned food and deserve the high estimation in which they are held by the consumer. The time is now rapidly approaching when all such goods will be free of any imitation or adulteration, and this will add greatly to their value in the markets of the country. The consumer will then only need to have the date of preservation marked on the can to be fully protected.

The expressed juice of fruits mixed with the proper proportion of sugar produces an important article of commerce known as fruit sirup. These fruit sirups are used principally in the preparation of cooling, non-alcoholic beverages such as are drunk at the "soda fountains" so-called in the United States. In the preparation of fruit sirups only the choicest and best fruits are to be used. The juice, after expression, is properly freed from suspended matter by filtration or sedimentation and is brought to a proper consistence by mixing at once with pure sugar. When it is used as soon as prepared no further preparation in regard to its preservation is necessary, since juice prepared in this way and kept in an ice-box will keep several days without fermenting. When prepared on a large scale for commercial purposes it becomes necessary to prepare these sirups in some more permanent form. To this end they are subjected to the usual process of pasteurization. On account of their liquid condition, sterilization, that is, the use of a temperature of boiling water, is rarely necessary. If, on pasteurization, a precipitate is formed in these sirups, they should be heated to the temperature of pasteurization previous to the final processing and any deposited matter be separated by filtration or deposit. The sirup thus clarified is placed in bottles or separate containers and subjected to the pasteurizing process for a sufficient length of time, and is then ready for the market. These pasteurized sirups, if stored in a cool place, will keep almost indefinitely. In all cases where pasteurization is practiced at a very low temperature it is necessary to keep the product at a low temperature, since, as is well known, pasteurization does not kill all the spores, but does act with deadly effect upon the yeasts which produce alcoholic fermentation. Fresh sirups thus prepared and pasteurized are wholesome and palatable and are unobjectionable.

Composition of Fruit Sirup.—Naturally the principal constituent of fruit sirup is the added sugar. The other constituents correspond to those of the juice from which the sirup is made. As one of the principal constituents