/oss/taxonomy/term/830/all en /oss/article/you-asked/how-do-they-make-chocolates-liquid-centre <p>The secret lies in the chemical behaviour of beta-fructofuranosyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside. Don't worry, that's just the chemical name for sucrose, or ordinary table sugar. Sucrose is a "disaccharide," meaning it is composed of two smaller molecules, namely glucose and fructose, that are chemically bound together.</p> Fri, 25 Jan 2019 17:02:21 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7559 at /oss /oss/article/food-health/risk-caramel-colouring <p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/?p=3868" rel="attachment wp-att-3870"><img alt="" height="150" src="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/files/2012/12/caramel-150x150.jpg" width="150" /></a>Colas derive their colour from caramel, which basically is a complex mixture of compounds produced when various carbohydrates such as sucrose, fructose, glucose or starches are heated to a high temperature. Put some sugar or starch in a pan, heat it, and soon you’ll have caramel. And of course a mess to clean up. Chemically, caramelization is a very complex process resulting in the formation of hundreds of compounds. To complicate things further, there are several types of commercial caramelization processes, depending on what other reagents are added to the carbohydrate source as it is being pyrolyzed. Adding acids or alkalis to promote caramelization is common, but it is also possible to add sulphites such as sodium sulphite or ammonia compounds such as ammonium carbonate to achieve specific shades of brown.</p> <p style="text-align:justify">Caramelization also occurs commonly in cooking and produces basically the same set of compounds as a commercial process except for when ammonium compounds are added. Any complex mixture like this will contain some compounds that when isolated and carefully investigated will produce some adverse effects in cell cultures or laboratory animals. When ammonium compounds are used, some of the breakdown products fall into the imidazole family, a couple of which, namely 4-methylimidazole and 2-methylimidazole have been shown to cause cancer in rats and mice. This can provide some gristle for the alarmist mill. And it has.</p> <p><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2012/12/24/the-“risk”-of-caramel-colouring/">Read more</a></p> Tue, 25 Dec 2012 03:36:12 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1847 at /oss