You might already know that supermarkets have loads of tricks up their sleeve to keep you browsing and buying ― in fact, some think that’s why they make those annoying layout changes from time to time.
You can forgive some of that, I guess; it’s a bit inconvenient, but nothing we don’t expect as customers.
However, I really didn’t expect to learn how much “maple syrup” sold in supermarkets isn’t actually the real thing.
More than half of UK maple syrup comes from a company in Wales which produces both pure and “blended” maple syrup.
If you’re after the former option, you might want to read the label of your beloved bottle a little closely; there are some sneaky tricks multiple brands use to make a rushed shopper think they’re getting a completely different product.
How can I tell real vs fake maple syrup?
It’s a little bit like wasabi. True wasabi is very expensive; most of the stuff we come into contact with is basically dyed and flavoured horseradish.
So when restaurants get their hands on the real deal, they usually shout it from the rooftops, often freshly grating it beside your table.
Pure maple syrup is another such product. So if your bottle reads “pancake syrup,” “maple-flavoured syrup,” or similar, yeah ― that’s unlikely to be the real deal.
A bottle of pure maple syrup will probably call itself exactly that.
“If you find a product on the shelf labelled ‘maple syrup’ or ‘Grade A’ — or it lists ‘maple sugar’ as an ingredient — it’s the real thing,” Real Simple says.
“Blended” maple syrup will only partly contain the pure product.
There’s more than just the label, though
Aside from looking at the label, there’s colour to consider.
Most “maple-flavour” syrups are made from a sugar syrup with maple flavourings, which means they’re all the same colour.
But maple syrup comes in four colours with their own grades ― golden, amber, dark, and very dark. The real deal will likely specify which one you’re working with.
Then, there’s the texture. Food site AllRecipes shared that “Pure maple syrup is much thinner than pancake syrup, and often seems like a liquid.”
It’s also got a much shorter shelf life than its alternatives.
Luckily, pure maple syrup is also readily available in a lot of UK supermarkets ― so long as you know what to look for.