AERATED WATERS - THE SUGAR CONTENT Sugar is specially manufactured for use in aerated-water pro duction. It is highly refined by animal charcoal, no blue material having been employed to produce whiteness. Especial care is taken in the refining process to render the sugar free from sedi ment or scum when made into syrup. Artificial sweeteners, of which saccharin is the chief, are permitted in some countries, and such sweeteners are employed for special purposes, as in cases where sugar is undesirable because of its tendency towards fer mentation, or in periods when sugar is expensive or difficult to obtain. Saccharin may be obtained in very high degrees of sweet ening power, for example 55o times the sweetening power of sugar. In the United States the use of saccharin is prohibited by the U.S. department of agriculture and by most of the States. The acidifying materials commonly used in aerated waters are citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid and phosphoric acid. These acids should be free from metallic and arsenical contamination.
used for aerated or carbonated beverages are usually treated to eliminate the al buminous and pectinous matter and finally filtered, so that the finished beverages may be as clear as possible. However, there are also many natural fruit or combination of natural fruit and synthetic flavoured beverages with a cloudy appearance. Con centrated fruit flavours may consist of a blend of fruit juice and fruit oil, i.e., from the peel of citrus fruits, and synthetic fruit esters, or a combination of two or more of these. Essential oils, e.g., lemon, orange, limes, etc., are also employed for flavouring purposes, usually after they have been deprived of their insoluble terpenes and sesquiterpenes by fractional distillation. Vegetable extracts of either aqueous or alcoholic nature are prepared from herbs, roots and seeds for use in the production of ginger and herbal beverages. Mineral salts, e.g., sodium bicarbonate, sodium sulphate, calcium chloride, sodium chloride, etc., are used in the preparation of table-waters. In some countries the use of small quantities of saponin bodies is permitted for the production of foam, such bodies being known as "froth-heading." Other sub stances which are used for this purpose are liquorice extract, for dark-coloured beverages, and various gums. Colouring matter is frequently added to aerated beverages. This usually takes the form of burnt sugar or caramel for brown-coloured drinks, and specially pure coal-tar colours for other beverages.
