Beet or Cane Sugar - Which?

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 9, 1915

Beet or Cane Sugar — Which?

THE statement is frequently met, in recent months, that beet sugar is inferior to cane sugar for jelly making. Many claim the failure of their fruit juice to jelly properly can be traced to this cause.

On this point Dr. H. W. Wiley says:— “This theory that beet sugar is inferior for preserving and jelly making is a very persistent one, but no reason is known for such an effect. Jelly-making properties depend upon the acidity of the juice and upon certain pectin bodies, found in the apple and quince especially, which are gumlike and viscous, and promote the jelly making. The sugar could have no bearing on the problem unless alkalies which counteracted the acids were left in it, and this is highly improbable in a refined product. We cannot but feel that these variations have been due to some other cause. Fruits vary in their jellying power from year to year, and from time to time, with the season, degree of ripeness, and the like, and it is not safe to jump at a conclusion of this kind. Also, only the best quality of beet sugar, the thoroughly refined article, is to be compared with the cane sugar. In Farmers’ Bulletin 329, issued by the Department of Agriculture, there is a résumé of tests made at the California Experiment Station, using beet sugar and cane sugar for canning, preserving, and jelly making. The results of this carefully conducted experiment showed conclusively that the two sugars gave equally satisfactory results. The report states that ‘the jelly in each case was as clear as it is possible for jelly to be, and not the slightest difficulty was experienced in the making of it.’”