LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The Maple Industry is Being Destroyed

We have been making maple syrup for 52 years. Having purchased this farm in 1947, we learned from the old timers that syrup was made here since 1900 or before. There have been developments in syrup making that are destroying this delicious product.
In 1954 we were making syrup with our neighbor when plastic pre-filters first came on the market. They were easy to clean and filtered better than cotton flannel. Our first experience with these filters produced syrup that had a taste of plastic. We quit using them immediately. Since then we have heard complaints of syrup tasting of plastic and they blame plastic pre-filters. I can tell by the taste of syrup if plastic pre-filters were used.

Now comes the new product called Atom, a chemical defoamer that gives syrup a terrible taste. In 1978 our supplier sold us some. It certainly does defoam. About half of our customers brought back the syrup and said it wasn't fit for a dog to eat. Needless to say, we lost a year' s production and went back to making it right the next year. We lost several customers. I was talking to a retired industrial chemist and was telling him about it. He told me the product was made for commercial boilers to stop foaming, but it would give syrup a bad taste. We have had people visiting who told us they do not like the taste of maple syrup. After tasting our syrup they said it was very delicious and bought some. We are gaining new customers from other producers using this chemical defoamer because their syrup tastes terrible.

By the way, we use only cotton flannel pre-filters and margarine or butter as a defoaming agent. Also, we use only tin or glass containers for our syrup and our customers love them.

The Morris Family
Lake Odessa, MI 48849

(Please note: Letters to the Editor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the MMSA Board of Directors or the opinions of the Editor.)