Candy Manufacturing Research Articles

Thallium Poisoning from Maliciously Contaminated Food

Four young adults presented two days after one of them had received marzipan balls packaged in a box from an expensive candy manufacturer. Two ate one candy ball, while two others shared a third. The next day, variable gastrointestinal symptoms developed. On the third day, two patients developed painful paresthesiae of the hands and feet, an early but nonspecific clinical marker of thallium poisoning. A tentative diagnosis of thallium poisoning was made based on symptoms, and treatment was initiated. The remaining candies were radiographed. Metallic densities in the candies supported the diagnosis, and atomic absorption spectroscopy was used to quantitate thallium content. Each candy contained a potentially fatal dose. Five to seven days later, hypertension and tachycardia developed in the two patients who had ingested an entire candy. All patients developed alopecia but recovered without overt neurologic or other sequelae. While the diagnosis of thallium poisoning is often delayed until alopecia develops, an early diagnosis favors an effective treatment strategy.

QUALITY CONTROL IN THE CONFECTIONERY INDUSTRY

The following topics were highlighted in this paper: (a) Candy manufacture is basically the physical chemistry of super-saturated solutions. (b) Quality control is necessary to produce a clean, uniform, and legal product. (c) Quality control is necessary to control costs. (d) The high solids content in finished confections requires special packaging. (e) Effects of small quantities of foreign material such as ash and protein may affect quality at the temperature used to manufacture most candy. (f) Methods of producing grain within the confection or by adding seed to produce grain. (g) Candy manufacturers should develop purchasing specifications in the absence of government or industry standards. (h) Specifications should meet Federal Food and Drug Administration requirements. (i) It is important to know the microbiology of certain ingredients, particularily products of animal origin. These sensitive ingredients should be quarantined on receipt and not used until found safe. (j) The candy manufacturer is legally responsible for the products offered for sale.

Beurteilung der Inversionswirkung von Stärkesirupen vom Standpunkt der Bonbonerzeuger

SchlußfolgerungBeim Vergleich beider Methoden, welcher sich der Bonbonerzeuger zur Beurteilung des Stärkesirups bedient, d. h. der Bestimmung des Inversionsvermögens (IV) und des Inversionsfaktors (IF), zeigte sich, daß die Beziehung zwischen diesen Werten nicht genügend nachweisbar ist. Analysen von direkt im Betriebe erzeugten Bonbonmassen ergaben, daß die Menge des gebildeten Invertzuckers in einer direkten Beziehung zu dem IV des Sirups steht. Da aber keine verläßliche Beziehung zwischen den Werten des IV und des IF nachgewiesen werden konnte, kann man auf Grund des IF nicht schließen, wie stark die katalytische Wirkung des Stärkesirups auf die angeführte Inversion sein wird. Die genaue Bestimmung des IF wird durch den nicht genügend deutlichen Farbumschlag der Indikatoren bei der Bestimmung der Titrationswerte erschwert und dies hauptsächlich bei gelb gefärbten Sirupen. Die Bestimmung des IV als Objektivierung der Bonbonprobe ist zwar umständlicher und erklärt nicht die Ursache der Inversionswirkung des Sirups, gibt aber dem Bonbonhersteller einen sehr verläßlichen Wert, da diese Bestimmung komplex die Wirkung der Faktoren auswertet, welche sich an der Bildung des Invertzuckers beteiligen und dabei eigentlich die Qualität der Hartkaramellen in bezug auf ihre Lagerfähigkeit beeinflussen. Zu diesen Faktoren ist es nötig, auch den katalytischen Einfluß der Kationen der Schwermetalle und der Erdalkalien einzu‐beziehen, denn diese erhöhen erheblich das IV.Endlich wurde der puffernde Charakter der Stärkesirupe mit einem höheren scheinbaren Gehalt an P2O5 resp. einem höheren Phosphatäquivalent (PE) überprüft, welches sich günstig bei der Ansäuerung der noch nicht genügend gekühlten Bonbonmasse auswirken kann.

Chemistry In Candy Manufacturing

IF YOU had your share of the candy consumed in the United States last year, you ate a pound and a half per month. And you probably thought of its manufacture as a large scale version of what you had done or watched done in your home kitchen. In many respects you would be correct. Today, even on an industrial scale, much of candy making is still an art, particularly in the smaller plants; yet it is showing a definite, though gradual, trend toward the scientific. More than a quarter of a century ago [Ind. Eng. Chem. 16, 336-9 (1924)] Stroud Jordan found enough chemistry in confectionery manufacture to state that it . . is fast becoming a specialized industry, depending upon the careful selection and use of all raw materials. Solution, evaporation, crystallization, dehydration, disintegration, blending, coloring, and flavoring—each plays a part. Today chemistry is playing a still greater part ...

The Need for and Value of Physical Examina Tion of Employes as Illustrated in the Work of the Rike-Kumler Company

The inspiration for, and the realization of the value of, a physical examination of employes came to our company from the opportunity of observing this same work as it has been done in The National Cash Register Company of this city for a number of years, and also from the testimony of the management of that company as to the benefits derived. The Rike-Kumler Company operates a department store in the city of Dayton. The determination to apply a physical examination as a test of employment took definite form in the spring of 1912, when we moved into a new store with largely increased space and the opening of many new departments. These new departments included a large restaurant and tea-room, a lunch counter, a soda fountain, a bakery, ice cream making, candy manufacturing and a market department. Our ambition to make these departments thoroughly sanitary, clean and attractive led us to the very natural fear that we might have external conditions all they should be, and yet, without some check and information as to the people actually doing the work, we might unknowingly be harboring filth and disease more dangerous than open dirt and disorder. It was this need that decided us on physical examination and definite physical requirements as a test for employment. Again, our employes number from 600 to 850 people, and our experience with certain cases of tubercular trouble and other diseases emphasized the necessity for some means of protection of the members of our store family from each other, and also the great desirability and importance of safeguarding our customers. Again, our experience had shown to us that had we possessed accurate information as to the true physical condition of our employes, we should, in a number of instances, have been instrumental in suggesting changes in location and in mode of living 223