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/523

 which is used in the centrifugal is also found in the molasses. Various forms of acid phosphates are frequently employed in the clarifying of the cane juices and a part of these is also found concentrated in the molasses. In fact the molasses from sugar cane factories very frequently contains such quantities of these added substances as to render it unfit for human consumption. It is true that these substances are diluted when mixed with glucose, but this is not a sufficient excuse to warrant their employment. It is possible to obtain unobjectionable sirups and molasses for mixing purposes and manufacturers should be held strictly to account if this is not done. In so far as has come to my knowledge there are no adulterants directly added to the mixed sirups except for bleaching purposes.

Attention should be called, however, to still another form of adulteration due to the fact that the molasses from the sugar cane factories is often so dark-colored as to be even unfit for mixing.

In such cases it is not uncommon to bleach the molasses by adding zinc and acid producing nascent hydrogen and leaving the salts of zinc, either the sulfite or chlorid as the case may be, in the product. Molasses containing salts of any of these heavy metals, namely, zinc, tin, or lead, should be rigidly excluded from consumption.

General Observations.—If a sirup is to be considered in the light of the definitions already given, as the result of evaporation, after proper clarification of the saccharine juices of sugar-producing plants it is doubtful if the term should be used in connection with the mixed products which have been described. I have used it because these are the commercial designations. Since molasses is also used very extensively in the manufacture of these mixed sirups it might be asked if they could not also be as properly called molasses as sirup. In England the material which is called molasses in this country is usually known as treacle and the very dark molasses coming from the refinery or the sugar factory is known in both countries as "black strap." If molasses be concentrated to a high degree and pulled while cooling the product is known as taffy in this country or toffy in England,—it is also known as molasses candy.

The general conclusion in regard to this matter is that since the processes of sugar making have been so improved as to extract the greater part of the crystallizible sugar, thus concentrating the residue of an inedible character in the molasses and since, further, the use of various chemicals in the clarifying of sugar juices has become general, all of which are practically concentrated in the molasses, this latter product has practically ceased to be edible.

The laws relating to the distillation of alcohol have been so amended as to permit the production of industrial alcohol, under conditions prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, free of tax. Molasses is an excellent material for this purpose and, in addition to this, is the cheapest material