# Treacle

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Uncrystallized syrup

Treacle in a bowl

**Treacle** ([/ˈtriːkəl/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English))[1] is uncrystallised [syrup](/source/Syrup) made during the refining of [sugar](/source/Sugar).[2][3] The most common forms of treacle are [golden syrup](/source/Golden_syrup), a pale variety, and black treacle, a darker variety similar to [molasses](/source/Molasses). Black treacle has a distinctively strong, slightly bitter flavour, and a richer colour than golden syrup.[4] Golden syrup treacle is a common sweetener and condiment in [British cuisine](/source/British_cuisine), found in such dishes as [treacle tart](/source/Treacle_tart) and [treacle sponge pudding](/source/Treacle_sponge_pudding).

## Etymology

Historically, the [Middle English](/source/Middle_English) term *treacle* was used by [herbalists](/source/Herbalists) and [apothecaries](/source/Apothecary) to describe a medicine (also called *[theriac](/source/Theriac)* or *theriaca*), composed of many ingredients, that was used as an [antidote](/source/Antidote) for poisons, snakebites, and various other ailments.[3] *Triacle* comes from the [Old French](/source/Old_French) *triacle*, in turn from (unattested and reconstructed) [Vulgar Latin](/source/Vulgar_Latin) **triacula*, which comes from [Latin](/source/Latin) *theriaca*,[5] the [latinisation](/source/Latinization_(literature)) of the [Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_language) θηριακή (*thēriakē*), the feminine of θηριακός (*thēriakos*), 'concerning venomous beasts',[6] which comes from θηρίον (*thērion*), 'wild animal, beast'.[7][8]

## Production

Treacle is made from the syrup that remains after sugar is [refined](/source/Sugarcane#Refining). Raw sugars are first treated in a process called [affination](/source/Sugar_refinery#Affination). When dissolved, the resulting liquor contains the minimum of dissolved non-sugars to be removed by treatment with [activated carbon](/source/Activated_carbon) or [bone char](/source/Bone_char). The dark-coloured washings[*[clarification needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)*] are treated separately, without carbon or bone char. They are boiled to grain (i.e., until sugar crystals precipitate out) in a vacuum pan, forming a low-grade *masse cuite* (boiled mass) which is [centrifuged](/source/Centrifuge), yielding a brown sugar and a liquid by-product—*treacle*.[9]

Black treacle naturally contains relatively high levels of sulphite (>100 ppm, expressed in sulphur dioxide equivalent). These levels are deemed safe for the majority of the population. However, some allergic and respiratory reactions have been reported particularly amongst asthmatics, such that the United States Food and Drug Administration requires that levels over 10ppm, i.e. >10 mg/kg, be declared on the ingredients label.[10]

## See also

- [Food portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Food)

- [Caramelisation](/source/Caramelisation)

- [List of syrups](/source/List_of_syrups)

- *[Stroopwafel](/source/Stroopwafel)*

- [Treacle mining](/source/Treacle_mining)

- [Treacle protein](/source/Treacle_protein)

- [Treacle sponge pudding](/source/Treacle_sponge_pudding)

- Venice treacle, also known as Treacle of Andromachus: see [Theriac § Theriaca Andromachi Senioris](/source/Theriac#Theriaca_Andromachi_Senioris)

## References

### Citations

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** "treacle, *n.*", in the *Oxford English Dictionary*, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Treacle Origins and Uses at www.recipes4us.co.uk"](http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Treacle%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20181003010739/http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Treacle%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm) from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2008-03-31.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-OED_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-OED_3-1) Oxford Dictionary [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-85152-101-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-85152-101-2)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Definition of TREACLE"](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treacle). *www.merriam-webster.com*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20100410131642/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treacle) from the original on 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-10-12.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [theriacus](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dtheriacus) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200203175744/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=theriacus) 2020-02-03 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, *A Latin Dictionary*, on Perseus

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [θηριακός](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqhriako%2Fs) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201125062221/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqhriako%2Fs) 2020-11-25 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, *A Greek–English Lexicon*, on Perseus

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [θηρίον](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqhri%2Fon) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210428074619/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqhri%2Fon) 2021-04-28 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, *A Greek–English Lexicon*, on Perseus

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Treacle"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150805010535/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/treacle). Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from [the original](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/treacle) on August 5, 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Heriot p 392

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Bindu Nair and Amy R. Elmore, Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Sodium Sulfite, Potassium Sulfite, Ammonium Sulfite, Sodium Bisulfite, Ammonium Bisulfite, Sodium Metabisulfite and Potassium Metabisulfite, *International Journal of Toxicology* 22(Suppl. 2):63–88, 2003, page 67, [\[1\]](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10915810390239478) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220517182706/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10915810390239478) 2022-05-17 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

### Bibliography

- Heriot, Thomas Hawkins Percy (1920). [*The manufacture of sugar from the cane and beet*](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.215457). London: Longmans, Green and co.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Treacle](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Treacle).

- ["Treacle"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Treacle). *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). 1911.

- [Old 'Recipes4us' page "Treacle Origin"](http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Treacle%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20181003010739/http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Treacle%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm) 2018-10-03 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

- [CSR Sugar company of Australia – Treacle](https://web.archive.org/web/20080719154802/http://csrsugar.com.au/ViewProduct.aspx?id=10)

- [Sugar Australia website – refiner and marketer for CSR limited.](http://www.sugaraustralia.com.au/Industry.aspx?content=FinalProduct)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Treacle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treacle) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treacle?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.