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Maple syrup here and there

As noted in a previous column, there is more to the story of maple syrup production. Maple trees are native to every province in Canada...

As noted in a previous column, there is more to the story of maple syrup production. Maple trees are native to every province in Canada but there are many distinct varieties due to climate and ecology. The Eastern Sugar Maple, the Red Maple and the Black Maple are the main syrup varieties due to their high sugar and sap producing capabilities. None of those varieties are native to Alberta. The Manitoba maple grows here and does produce sap but the sugar content is very low, hence it is not a viable variety for syrup production. Another variety used to produce syrup is the Big Leaf Maple grown on Vancouver Island and the lower mainland. Although an annual Big Leaf Maple Syrup festival is held in Duncan each year, production is still low due to climate restrictions.

The only other tree species with some hope of producing syrup in Alberta is the birch tree – there are a couple birch syrup producers in Northern Alberta but production is low as it takes twice as much sap to produce birch syrup than to produce maple syrup. It also takes large stands of a usable birch species to make sap collection efficient through plastic pipelines. A uniform stand of at least 25,000 trees is needed for even a modest birch syrup operation – no such stand exists in this province. Birch syrup is produced in Alaska, Russia and Scandinavia, as they have large stands of Paper Leaf Birch, the main birch syrup variety, but production there is still limited.

As with almost any food product nowadays, in addition to a regular version there is an organic alternative with the usual deviousness and duplicity involved in fooling the consumer into thinking organic is better and purer. The problem with the marketing of organic maple syrup is that its actual production is identical to that of regular maple syrup so testing is of no use in organic certification. The use of chemicals, herbicides, pesticides, etc. is virtually non-existent in the production process so that angle can't be used in marketing either, but never underestimate the ability of organic marketers to come up with some angle to bamboozle the consumer. The primary trick used in this instance is to just label the product as organic and assume the buyer will not question on what basis that claim is made. The buyer naively assumes that no chemicals are used in the organic syrup production process, not realizing that that's the case for all syrup production.

To help justify the organic claim, marketers have also created criteria for an "organic production atmosphere." For instance, an organic sugar bush must contain 15 per cent companion tree and brush species and only certain sized maple trees can be tapped; all of that has nothing to do with the health of the maple tree or the quality of the product. Also, organic maple syrup must not become too concentrated in the boiling process even though that restriction makes it less flavourful and precludes the production of actual sugar. To ensure these criteria are met, production records, complaint logs, sales records, inventory control and product traceability must be maintained for inspection. Of course, all of that is easily manipulated and open to fraud but that's all part of the organic racket.

Although organic maple syrup may not make much sense, the industry continues to promote the use of maple syrup in general in ever more inventive ways. You have seen its use in bacon, tea, potato chips, poutine, and chocolate; the list is endless. Health benefits have also been attributed to maple syrup - it is somewhat purer than cane sugar in that the processing and refining is more natural and less industrial. It contains more antioxidants and more minerals than refined sugar and, interestingly, the darker the syrup the better and more flavourful. In the end, however, maple syrup is still a sugar and contributes to higher caloric intake but there may be some benefit in using it to replace other sugars.

There is another somewhat nefarious side to maple syrup use – historically, large quantities were used in cigarette manufacturing. It was used to keep tobacco sticky so it wouldn't fall out of the end of a cigarette as well as to add flavour. Today, sugars and other sweeteners are added to cigarette tobacco to remove some of the bitterness of tobacco smoke. Nowadays maple syrup is used to add flavour to e-cigarettes used in vaping. And you thought maple syrup was just for pancakes.