Fruit Waters

FRUIT AND BERRY WATERS, carbonated soft drinks, are usually prepared from fruit and berry syrups and pure water saturated with CO₂. The finished syrup is poured into bottles (15–20 g of syrup is taken for a bottle with a capacity of 240 cubic cm), and then the bottles are filled with water saturated with CO₂. Syrups are obtained either by dissolving sugar in berry and fruit juices ("fruit syrup") or by mixing natural fruit essences and tinctures with sugar syrup acidified with citric acid ("lemon syrup"). Fruit waters must be transparent and have no sediment; their clouding and spoilage are the result of the vital activity of microorganisms contained within them. Therefore, in production, serious attention must be paid to the purity of the raw materials and utensils. Syrups should be prepared using pure refined sugar, not granulated sugar. Ordinary refined sugar is unsuitable for the preparation of fruit syrups because, at sugar refineries, it is blued with ultramarine, which, under the influence of the acids in fruit juices, can release H₂S and act unfavorably on the quality of the syrups. Molasses and other types of sugar capable of direct fermentation are unsuitable for the production of fruit waters. The water on which fruit waters are prepared must satisfy sanitary requirements in its composition; usually, freshly boiled or distilled water is used. For proper mechanical cleaning of the bottles into which fruit waters are poured, it is necessary to treat them for 12 hours with a saturated soda solution. When adulterating fruit waters, substances are often used that have nothing in common with the fruits and berries whose names are indicated on the labels; for example, artificial fruit and berry essences (synthetic fruit esters), coal-tar dyes, and saccharin are used. Testing for the presence of artificial aromatic essences in fruit waters is performed by distilling the contents of a freshly opened bottle of fruit water; in this process, artificial odorous substances pass over entirely with the first 10–15 cubic cm of distillate, while natural aromatic substances remain with the residue for a long time. Furthermore, the alkalinity of the ash of drinks prepared without fruit juices is equal to zero. The use of mineral and coal-tar dyes for fruit waters is prohibited in the USSR (Circular of the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR No. 32 of February 4, 1925). If a drink contains saccharin, the bottles must be provided with labels indicating that the product is made with saccharin and that its consumption is not recommended for children, the sick, pregnant women, and the elderly (Circular of the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR No. 188 of July 8, 1922). Fruit waters must not contain salts of heavy metals (copper, lead, tin, etc.), nor preservative substances.