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{{Short description|Uncrystallized syrup made during the refining of sugar}} 
[[File:Treacle-Sri Lanka.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Treacle in a bowl]]
'''Treacle''' ({{IPAc-en|'|t|r|iː|k|əl}})<ref>"treacle, ''n.''", in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', Oxford: Oxford University Press.</ref> is any uncrystallised [[syrup]] made during the refining of [[sugar]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Treacle%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm|title = Treacle Origins and Uses at www.recipes4us.co.uk|access-date = 2008-03-31|archive-date = 2018-10-03|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181003010739/http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Treacle%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name=OED>Oxford Dictionary {{ISBN|978-1-85152-101-2}}</ref> The most common forms of treacle are [[golden syrup]], a pale variety, and black treacle, a darker variety similar to [[molasses]]. Black treacle has a distinctively strong, slightly bitter flavour, and a richer colour than [[golden syrup]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treacle|title=Definition of TREACLE|website=www.merriam-webster.com|access-date=2010-10-12|archive-date=2010-04-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410131642/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treacle|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Golden syrup]] treacle is a common sweetener and condiment in [[British cuisine]], found in such dishes as [[treacle tart]] and [[treacle sponge pudding]].

==Etymology==
Historically, the [[Middle English]] term {{lang|enm|treacle}} was used by [[herbalists]] and [[Apothecary|apothecaries]] to describe a medicine (also called ''[[theriac]]'' or ''theriaca''), composed of many ingredients, that was used as an [[antidote]] for poisons, snakebites, and various other ailments.<ref name=OED /> ''Triacle'' comes from the [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|triacle}}, in turn from (unattested and reconstructed) [[Vulgar Latin]] {{lang|la|*triacula}}, which comes from [[Latin]] {{lang|la|theriaca}},<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dtheriacus theriacus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203175744/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=theriacus |date=2020-02-03 }}, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, ''A Latin Dictionary'', on Perseus</ref> the [[latinization (literature)|latinisation]] of the [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|θηριακή}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|thēriakē}}), the feminine of {{lang|grc|θηριακός}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|thēriakos}}), 'concerning venomous beasts',<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqhriako%2Fs θηριακός] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125062221/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqhriako%2Fs |date=2020-11-25 }}, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref> which comes from {{lang|grc|θηρίον}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|thērion}}), 'wild animal, beast'.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqhri%2Fon θηρίον] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428074619/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqhri%2Fon |date=2021-04-28 }}, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Treacle |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/treacle |publisher=Oxford Dictionaries |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805010535/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/treacle |archive-date=August 5, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Production==
Treacle is made from the syrup that remains after sugar is [[Sugarcane#Refining|refined]]. Raw sugars are first treated in a process called [[Sugar_refinery#Affination|affination]]. When dissolved, the resulting liquor contains the minimum of dissolved non-sugars to be removed by treatment with [[activated carbon]] or [[bone char]]. The dark-coloured washings{{Clarify|date=February 2011}} 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 {{lang|fr|masse cuite}} (boiled mass) which is [[centrifuge]]d, yielding a brown sugar and a liquid by-product—''treacle''.<ref>Heriot p 392</ref> 

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. As 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.<ref>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, [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10915810390239478] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517182706/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10915810390239478|date=2022-05-17}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Food}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Caramelisation]]
* [[List of syrups]]
* [[Treacle mining]]
* [[Treacle protein]]
* [[Treacle sponge pudding]]
* Venice treacle, also known as Treacle of Andromachus: see {{section link|Theriac|Theriaca Andromachi Senioris}}
{{div col end}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |last=Heriot |first=Thomas Hawkins Percy |title=The manufacture of sugar from the cane and beet |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.215457 |publisher=Longmans, Green and co. |location=London |date=1920}}

==External links==
{{Commonscat}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Treacle |volume=27 |short=x}}
*[http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Treacle%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm Old 'Recipes4us' page "Treacle Origin"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003010739/http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Treacle%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm |date=2018-10-03 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080719154802/http://csrsugar.com.au/ViewProduct.aspx?id=10 CSR Sugar company of Australia – Treacle]
*[http://www.sugaraustralia.com.au/Industry.aspx?content=FinalProduct Sugar Australia website – refiner and marketer for CSR limited.]

{{Sugar}}

[[Category:Types of sugar]]
[[Category:Syrup]]