I have seen some “chocolate cream drops” which were half terra alba; nor were these purchased upon the street corners, where the worst sorts are said to be exhibited. Boston dealers complain that some New York houses send drummers to Boston who offer confectionery at a less price, at wholesale, than it costs to manufacture a fair grade of the same by any process yet known, in Boston. Chocolate drops are made by a patent process at about seventeen cents per pound when sugar is fourteen, and chocolate thirty-five cents per pound.
Gum arabic drops have been sold for seventeen cents when sugar cost almost twice that sum, and pure gum arabic nearly three times seventeen cents. I asked an extensive confectioner how this could be explained, and he said, “By using glucose in place of gum arabic.”
Now, glucose is a sugar obtained from grapes, a very nice substitute for the above, though less sweet than other sugars—as cane, beet, etc.
“What do you call glucose?” I asked this confectioner.
“It is mucilage made from glue,” was his reply.
Glue is a nasty substance, at best. It is extracted by no very neat process from the refuse of skins, parings, hoofs, entrails, etc., of animals, particularly of oxen, calves, and sheep. It usually lies till it becomes stale and corrupt before being made into glue.
A confectioner showed me some “gum arabic drops” made from this patent “glucose” which cost but thirteen cents per pound. Jessop exhibited some extra pure gum drops which actually cost fifty cents to manufacture. I found all his costlier candies to be pure.
Gum drops are a luxury, and are excellent for bronchial difficulties, inflammation of the throat, larynx, and stomach. How shall we, then, tell a pure gum arabic drop from those nasty glue drops? First, the cheap article is usually of a darker color. The pure gum arabic drops are light color, like the gum. Take one in your fingers and double it over. If it possesses sufficient elasticity to bend on itself thus without breaking the grain, you may feel pretty sure it is gum arabic. The glue drop is brittle, and breaks up rough as it bends.
Do not purchase the colored drops. Pure sugar and gum arabic are white, or nearly so, and require no coloring.
Purchase only of a reliable party. Avoid colored confectionery, also all cheap candies. Even maple sugar makers have heard of sand and gypsum.