Treacle ()["treacle, n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.] is uncrystallised syrup made during the refining of sugar.[Oxford Dictionary ] The most common forms of treacle are golden syrup, a pale variety, and black treacle, a darker variety similar to molasses. Black treacle has a distinctively strong, slightly bitter flavour, and a richer colour than golden syrup.
Etymology
Historically, the
Middle English term treacle was used by
herbalists and
Apothecary to describe a medicine (also called
theriac or
theriaca), composed of many ingredients, that was used as an
antidote for poisons, snakebites, and various other ailments.
comes from the
Old French triacle, in turn from (unattested and reconstructed)
Vulgar Latin *triacula, which comes from
Latin theriaca,
[ theriacus , Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus] the latinisation of the Greek θηριακή (thēriakē), the feminine of θηριακός (thēriakos), 'concerning venomous beasts',
[ θηριακός , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus] which comes from θηρίον (thērion), 'wild animal, beast'.
[ θηρίον , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus]
Production
Treacle is made from the syrup that remains after sugar is refined. Raw sugars are first treated in a process called affination. When dissolved, the resulting liquor contains the minimum of dissolved non-sugars to be removed by treatment with
activated carbon or
bone char. The dark-coloured washings are treated separately, without carbon or bone char. They are boiled to grain (i.e. until sugar crystals precipitate out) in a vacuum pan, forming a low-grade masse cuite (boiled mass) which is
, yielding a brown sugar and a liquid by-product—
treacle.
[Heriot p 392]
Black treacle naturally contains relatively high levels of sulphite (>100 ppm, expressed in sulphur dioxide equivalent). These levels are deemed safe for the majority of the population. However, some allergic and respiratory reactions have been reported particularly amongst asthmatics. As such, that the United States Food and Drug Administration requires that levels over 10ppm, i.e. >10 mg/kg, be declared on the ingredients label.[Bindu Nair and Amy R. Elmore, Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Sodium Sulfite, Potassium Sulfite, Ammonium Sulfite, Sodium Bisulfite, Ammonium Bisulfite, Sodium Metabisulfite and Potassium Metabisulfite, International Journal of Toxicology 22(Suppl. 2):63–88, 2003, page 67, [4] ]
See also
Citations
Bibliography
External links
