One of the most beloved Canadian things all around the world is, of course, maple syrup. But while it has the love of most of the world’s sweet-toothed population, it needs more attention from scientists. That is because the liquid gold is a mystery to this day. The syrup is made by boiling maple sap, which seems straightforward enough. However, a lot of the chemical reactions caused by the heat are still unknown because sap is so complicated. That’s why replicating the flavor is so difficult.
Replicating the flavor might be necessary as reservoirs of this deliciousness is limited. Just in 2021, we all experienced a worldwide maple syrup shortage. To manage it, Canadians, more precisely, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, tapped into their strategic reserve to fix the problem. They released an additional 50 million tons of the good stuff. It’s not the first time they had to do it, too. Three years before that, in 2018, they had to dip into their stockpile as well.
The reason why shortages happen is because the harvest period highly depends on weather. It can only happen for a limited time during the year, when the temperatures are above freezing during the day, but still drop below 32°F at night. Back in 2021, the spring harvest period was too short to collect enough supply, which caused the unfortunate situation.
It’s important to note that, if done responsibly, sap harvesting does not affect the growth of the tree. After all, it takes about 42 gallons of sap to get 1 gallon of syrup. That is why there are strict rules in place to regulate it. One can only tap 1–1.5 quarts of sap per tree, or one tenth of a tree’s sugar. Maples have to be over 8 inches in diameter to be tapped and even the biggest ones can only be tapped up to three times a year.
The produced syrup is classified according to color and taste. The deeper the color, the later in the season it’s harvested, the stronger the flavor it has. And it can be used everywhere, not just on pancakes and waffles. That is why the myth that Canadians use it every day is not so far from the truth. People put it in their morning coffees, use it in salad vinaigrettes and marinades, and replace the sugar with it in baked goods.
When it comes to nutritional value, it’s important to remember that maple syrup is a sweetener that’s high in sugar, so it’s not going to be incredibly healthy. However, it does have some valuable nutrients in it such as calcium, potassium, iron, zinc, and manganese. One study also found that it has 24 different antioxidants, with darker ones having more than the lighter ones. So, replacing your average refined sugar with maple syrup does have some small benefits.
Maple syrup has also been a target of a heist. You see, it is not only a delightful indulgence, but also an expensive delicacy. And wherever there’s money involved, there will be somebody trying to play dirty. That’s what happened in 2012 when a group of people siphoned off 18 million dollars worth of syrup off of the aforementioned Quebec stockpile.
The criminals, led by Richard Vallières, did it gradually, over several months. At first, they were replacing the liquid in the barrels with water, but, later on, as they kept getting away with it, they would just leave them empty. The disappearance of the massive 3,000 tons was discovered accidentally, during the annual inventory. The inspector started climbing the barrels, expecting them to hold his weight. However, they did not and he almost fell to the ground. Once they realized that some of the syrup was gone, they called the police to identify the damage. That’s when they found out that 9,571 barrels out of 63,000 were gone.
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Vallières was caught after the police were tipped off, together with 15 others related to the crime. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, the harshest penalty in Canada for anyone involved in a heist. The man also needed to pay 7 million US dollars, or all the profit he was able to make, to his victims. Vallières says he did it to get back at the federation. Apparently, they had fined him 1.3 million US dollars back in 2007 for selling maple syrup illegally. Unfortunately for him, he got too greedy to get away with his revenge plan.
