caxap

[rone]

This box of Russian sugar cubes sits in gBox's kitchen.  My coworker Lex assures me that Russian sugar is sweeter than American sugar.

Comments

"fast-dissolving"

[notr.livejournal.com]

suggests that maybe it's invert sugar, which is indeed sweeter, or maybe it's just in smaller crystals, which in solid form will hit the tongue faster.

Re: "fast-dissolving"

[motis.livejournal.com]

Isn't invert sugar also zero-calorie? It's my understanding that the body doesn't recognize it as food. If this is the case, why on Earth do we use nasty-tasting crap like Splenda in our diet soda?

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Invert sugar is, in fact, not zero-calorie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invert_sugar).

[motis.livejournal.com]

Either I was hoaxed a long time ago, or there's some other substance that was once upon a time called "invert sugar" that isn't what is called "invert sugar" now. I remember reading an article about it back in the '80s or '90s that I believe described a substance that was a stereoisomer of sucrose (in other words, comparing the two would be like comparing a left-hand glove with a right-hand glove). Actual invert sugar apparently isn't a stereoisomer, it's just sucrose broken down by an acid and some heat into glucose and fructose.

Color me confused by old memories and new information.

Never heard it called "invert sugar"

[notr.livejournal.com]

I've heard L-glucose, the reversed stereoisomer of normal D-glucose or dextrose, called "sinistrose," which I never realized was French for "pessimism."

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Chemists prefer levu- to sinistr- for the left-handed prefix.

Re: Never heard it called "invert sugar"

[motis.livejournal.com]

How fitting... I'm sure it was a newspaper article I read that in, so it's just another example of the popular media being a poor source of scientific information.