Find out why you have a sweet tooth, how different candies are perfected and how sugar affects your body
Sugar is found all over in nature, from the apples growing on trees to grains in the ground and dairy products, so why is it that sweets are classed as unhealthy and you’re told not to eat too many of them? The major difference is in the processing of sugar in sweets and the types of sugars that make up the main ingredients of a product. Sucrose is the favoured type of sugar used to make confectionery. This comes from a plant called sugar cane, but by the time it enters your favourite sweet treat, it’s usually had all its natural fibre and antioxidants removed.
Health experts advise that less than ten per cent of your daily calorie intake should come from sugary sweets and 90 per cent of your energy should be derived from more nutritional sources. But if sweets aren’t the best choice for our health, why do some people crave them? Many of your taste preferences are written into your genetics. Your unique DNA determines what your taste buds will sense, and some people have a stronger reaction to sweets than others. Children are usually bigger fans of sugary snacks because their bodies are growing and crave high-sugar items for the easy energy hit.
DID YOU KNOW? Sugar doesn’t stretch, so you need to chew out all the sugar in bubble gum to blow a large bubble
MAKING A BOILED SWEET
1 BOILING AND MIXING
Firstly, sugar and water are boiled over a stove to create a candy syrup.
2 POURING
When the mixture has cooled enough that it can be pulled apart in thick strings that don’t break, it’s ready to be poured onto a flat surface.
3 ADDING ACID
Citric acid is added into the mixture so that the sucrose breaks up and doesn’t crystallise.
4 CUTTING
The syrup is similar to soft glass in consistency. Now it can be cut into smaller pieces ready to be accurately portioned.
5 ROLLING
The syrup is fed through two printed rollers to mould the hardening mixture into the boiled sweet’s shape.
6 COOLING AND SEPARATING
The sweets continue to dry on the conveyor belt until they are solid. They’re then dropped vertically onto a hard surface to make sure the individual sweets are separated for packaging.
