Chocolate test ensures sugar consistency

Milk and dark chocolate contains sucrose, glucose and fructose. This combination of different sugars is a balance that protects the product - discouraging the growth of bacteria, keeping the chocolate moist and altering the flavour. Fructose is slightly sweeter than sucrose while glucose is less sweet. Fructose and glucose are simple carbohydrates known as monosaccharides while sucrose is a more complex disaccharide. Metrohm claim its pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) system can aid manufacturers in maintaining flavours and batch reproducibility by ensuring sugar type and content is uniform on the production line. In addition, Metrohm say the 817 Bioscan equipment is easy to maintain with no need to polish the working electrode, improving analysis times and running costs. The system requires laboratory reagents and a supply of pure de-ionised water. Metrohm offer a range of chemical analyses for application in the food industry. These include determination of sugars in maple syrup or honey, analysis of sugars and carbohydrates as well as analysis of vitamin C in foodstuffs.