Treacle

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. Golden syrup treacle is a common sweetener and condiment in British cuisine, found in such dishes as treacle tart and treacle sponge pudding.

Etymology Historically, the Middle English term was used by herbalists and apothecaries 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. Triacle comes from the Old French , in turn from (unattested and reconstructed) Vulgar Latin , which comes from Latin ,theriacus , Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus the latinisation of the Greek (), the feminine of (), 'concerning venomous beasts',θηριακός , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus which comes from (), '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 (boiled mass) which is centrifuged, yielding a brown sugar and a liquid by-product—treacle.Heriot p 392

Black treacle (molasses) 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, 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,

Treacle

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