A starting point for anyone interested in the history of sugar is Elizabeth Abbott’s important book Sugar: A Bittersweet History (2008). Like all students of sugar, however, my greatest debt is to Sidney Mintz, above all for his remarkable book Sweetness and Power (1985). Mintz was a hugely influential scholar, and a wise and gentle critic. He was also a great encourager of younger people. The book that follows is not intended as a successor to his book, but it certainly could not have been written without it.
Three libraries were especially important in the emergence of this book. The University of York Library, the Swem Library of the College of William and Mary and, above all, the Wellcome Library in London. I am also indebted to James W. Johnson, then President of the United States Beet Sugar Association, who granted me access to the Association’s library in their Washington offices.
My work on this book has been made more pleasurable by the hospitality of a number of friends: Martin and Rachel Pick in London; Patsy Sims and Bob Cashdollar in Washington; and Bill and Elizabeth in New York. In Williamsburg, over many years, I have been fortunate in my friendship with Marlene and Bill Davis, and Tolly and Ann Taylor – all of whom opened their homes to me. I am immensely grateful to Ben Hayes who provided the initial encouragement to write this book. Charles Walker, my agent, was again supportive throughout, as was my editor, Duncan Proudfoot; and my thanks, too, to Jon Davies, whose copy-editing has greatly improved the final version of this book.
Jenny Walvin, as always, makes everything possible.
Index
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
Achard, Karl Franz, 143
advertising, 209–14, 221–5, 274–6
aerated water, 246
agricultural subsidies, 227–8
American Civil War, 86–7, 120, 129–30, 137, 149–50, 152–4
American Heart Association, 202
American Monthly Review of Reviews, 172
American Revolution, 49, 83, 88, 99–100, 112–13, 120
American Sugar Refining
Company (Sugar Trust), 131–2, 156, 162, 164
American Tobacco Company, 138
Amsterdam, 37–8, 48, 66
coffee shops, 80–2
Antigua, 40, 57
Antwerp, 34–5, 37–8
apothecaries, 17, 69, 81, 97
artificial sweeteners, 259–60, 288
athleticism, cult of, 270–1
Attlee, Clement, 186
Australia, 114, 125–7, 129, 77 182, 203
Awdry, Rev. Wilbert, 192
bagasse, 102
Baghdad, 6, 285
Bahamas, 54
Bahia, 36, 116
baked beans, 100
Barbados, 17, 39–40, 43, 55–7, 68, 79
rum production, 103–6, 110, 113, 116
Basadona, Nicoletto, 10
Bath, 48, 70
beer, 77, 98, 110
beet sugar, 121, 143–6, 156, 163, 174, 177, 249
wartime supplies, 181–2, 185
‘bender’, 110
Bewdley (Worcestershire), 67
‘blackbirding’, 126
‘bliss point’, 233–4
Boer War, 180
Booth, Charles, 183
Bordeaux, 48, 141
Boston, 81, 83, 88, 109, 111, 118, 137, 156
bottled water, 257–8
Bradley, General Omar, 252
Brazil
abolishes slavery, 155
childhood obesity, 203
coffee cultivation, 84–5, 151, 155
development of sugar industry, 35–9, 41, 49, 58, 66, 79, 121, 126
native peoples, 36, 118
rum production, 102–3, 112
spread of plantation commodities, 154–5
breadfruit, 82
breakfast cereals, 179, 183, 221–3, 274
breakfast drinks, 223
breastfeeding, decline in, 204
Bridgetown, 103
Bristol, 48, 66, 103, 174
British diet, 183–8, 276–7
British Guiana, 124
British Navigation Acts, 108
BSE, 212
Buddhist cuisine, 6
Calais, 90
Calcutta, 59
campaigns against sugar, 235–6
Campbell’s soups, 138
Canary Islands, 31
candies, 120, 133–4, 164
canning and bottling, 97, 130, 137–9, 178
Cape Verde Islands, 31
Caribbean
coffee cultivation, 84–5
Creole cultures, 55
development of sugar industry, 39–41, 49–61, 79, 121, 126
environmental impact, 51–8, 60–1
fire damage, 57
French interests, 140–2
native peoples, 53–5, 115, 118
natural disasters, 54
political control, 55
population numbers, 54
rum production, 102–5, 107–11, 113, 115
spread of settlement, 57
sugar exports, 79, 95, 98, 100, 130,141
US interests, 146–7, 152–7, 162, 166
Carroll, Lewis, 192
Castro, Fidel, 166–7
Catherine II, Empress, 91
Catholic Church, 90
cereal bars, 225
Ceylon, coffee and tea plantations, 60
Chambers’s Cyclopaedia, 91
Charles IX, King of France, 13
Charleston, 58, 83
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 2
Chester, 65
China, tea exports, 75–6, 79, 82
Chinese tea-drinkers, 72
Chivers and Sons, 178
chocolate, 72–3, 91
Churchill, Winston, 183
City of San Francisco, 157
Clewiston (Florida), 167
Cobbett, William, 80
Coca-Cola, 210, 226, 247–62, 264–5, 285, 289–90
and corn syrup, 260–2, 265
Diet Cokes, 265
and US military, 250–4
Zero Sugar, 282, 289
cocoa, 60
coffee, 23, 25–6, 46, 48, 58, 60, 68–70, 95, 97, 113, 141, 231
Brazilian industry, 84–6, 131, 151
instant, 86
popularity of, 72–5, 80–8
coffee shops, 75, 80–3
coffins, 195–6
‘Columbian exchange’, 83
Colorado, ambulances in, 195
Columbus, Christopher, 34, 54
‘comfit makers’, 10
convenience stores, 266
Cook, Captain James, 105, 158
cookbooks, 89, 92–3, 136, 139
Co-operative Movement, 62
cotton, 58, 141, 150
cowboys, 58, 134
cowrie shells, 115
Cruikshank, George, 191
Crusades, 8–9
Cuba, 35, 54, 111, 145, 152–6, 159, 161–3, 165, 171–3, 181,288
impact of revolution, 166–7, 169
dandelion and burdock, 246
Delhi, obesity in, 198
Dent, Braham, 67
Derby, Earl of, 9
Derby porcelain, 70
desserts, 91–3, 231
Dickens, Charles, 192
dieting, 269–71
dioxin, 212
domestic servants, 77–8, 94
Dominica, 43
Dominican Republic, 156, 162
Dr Pepper, 247–8
Dresden porcelain, 70
Durham monks, 9
Dutch East India Company, 79
East Africa, sugar plantations, 60
East India Company, 74–5, 79, 82
eating out, growth of, 238–9
Edge, Ralph, 15
Edward I, King, 9
Egypt, 3, 6–7, 9, 11, 22, 38, 80, 203–4
Eisenhower,
General (later President) Dwight D. 251–2, 255
Elizabeth I, Queen, 19, 22, 285
Elizabeth of Austria, 13
energy drinks, 209
Engels, Friedrich, 78
engenhos, 31
European Common Market, 188
evaporated milk, 229–30
fairs, 64–5
Fiji, 60, 124, 127, 182, 254
flavoured waters, 219
Florida, 166–70
flour, sugar in, 177
fluoridation, 206
food industry, 216–44
and research funding, 236–7
French cuisine, 10, 12, 23–4, 90–4, 239
French language, 91
French Revolution, 49, 93–4, 140, 142
fruit juice, 208–9, 219, 267, 274
Galen, 16
Gandhi, Mahatma, 125
Gates, General Horatio, 148
Gdansk, 90
General Foods, 223, 233
Gillray, James, 191
Gin Act, 112
gingerbread, 100
Glasgow, 48, 178
globalisation, 228–9
Goa, 90
Gold Coast, 116
Gone with the Wind, 151
Graves, Robert, 182
Great Exhibition, 246
Greenock, 174
Greenwich, sugar banquet, 14
Guadeloupe, 24, 40, 57, 111
Guyana, 160
Haiti, 24, 84, 141, 147, 153
Hamburg, 37, 175
Hampton Court, 10
Hanway, Jonas, 80
Havemeyer, Henry, 131–2
Hawaii, 60, 127, 130, 145, 157–61, 163, 171–2, 287
Henry III, King, 17
Henry VII, King, 17
Henry VIII, King, 14
Henry the Navigator, 30
Hershey, Milton, 134
Hertford, Earl of, 19
Hey, Kathleen, 185
high-fructose corn syrup (HDCS), 260–2, 265
Hinduism, 3
Hogarth, William, 191
Holy Bible, 3, 5
honey, 2–6, 97, 108, 217
horse meat, 212
ice cream, 107, 163
indentured labour, 59, 123–6, 158–61
institutional food, 238
International Monetary Fund (IMF), 227
Ireland, rum consumption, 106, 113
Islam, spread of, 8–9, 16–17
jam, 96–7, 136, 177–9, 181, 209, 230
Jamaica, 17, 25, 39–41, 43, 45, 54, 57–8, 68, 82, 113, 117, 142.-З
Java, 84, 181
Jefferson, Thomas, 107, 148
Jesuits, 36
Jewish New Year, 4
Johnson, Richard, 67
Jones, Colin, 23
Keiller’s of Dundee, 178
Kiribati, 203
Kirkby Stephen (Westmoreland), 67
Koran, 5
Kroc, Ray, 255
La Cuisinière Bourgeoise, 93
Las Casas, Bartolomé de, 53, 55
Le Havre, 141
lead poisoning, 103
Leicester, Countess of, 65
Ligon, Richard, 56
Lincoln, Abraham, 154
Liptons, 178
Lisbon, 37, 66
Liverpool, 48, 66, 145, 174
Lloyd George, David, 183
Locke, John, 75
London, 37–8, 175, 178
coffee shops, 75, 81–2, 88
shops, 65–6
tea imports, 76
Louis XIV, King of France, 17, 23–4, 27–8, 285
Luanda, 36
Lucretius, 3
Lyle’s Golden Syrup, 180
MacArthur, General Douglas, 252
Macclesfield, 66
McDonald’s, 226, 239, 255, 261, 271
McGill, Donald, 192
McKinley Act, 131
Madeira, 31, 34, 36
mahogany, 68
Malaya, 60, 160
Mansfield, 15
maple syrup, 108
Marggraf, Andreas Sigismund, 143
markets, 63–4
Markham, Gervase, 15
marmalade, 178
Mars, Frank C., 134
Marseille, 141
Marshall Plan, 227, 254
Martinique, 24, 40, 103–4, 111
marzipan, 12
Mason jar, invention of, 137
Mathias, Peter, 177
Mauritania, 163
Mauritius, 124, 127, 160, 181, 287
medicines, 15–16, 69, 133, 208, 285
Meissen porcelain, 70
Mexico, 90, 168, 197, 203
Micronesia, 203
microwaves, 239
migrant labour, 168–70
military rations, 120–1, 134, 137
Mintz, Sidney, 79
molasses, 44, 95, 98–9, 102, 107–9, 111–12, 116
Montpellier, Robert de, 17
Montserrat, 40, 57
Morgan, Evan, 107
Mormons, 145
Mount Vesuvius, 20–1
Mozambique, 90
muscovado sugar, 44
Nabobs, 92
Nantes, 141
Napoleon Bonaparte, 120, 143
Natal, 124–5, 160
National Health Service (NHS), 27–8, 195, 198, 205–6, 272, 279, 281
Native Americans, 109–10
Nevis, 50, 57
New England, rum consumption, 103, 106, 108–11, 114
New York, 83, 107, 134, 137, 156
New York Coffee Exchange, 85
Nightingale, Florence, 87
Northumberland, Earl of, 10
obesity, 189–215, 235–6, 263, 269–76, 283–5
Odyssey, 3
Oliver, Jamie, 272, 280
Opie, Iona and Peter, 190
Orbach, Susie, 170
Ottoman Embassy, 81
Ottoman festivals, 11
Oxfam, 226
Oxford University, 14
Palace of Versailles, 88
palm oil, 60
Pareto Principle, 265
Paris, coffee shops, 81–2, 88
Paton, General George S., 252
Peace of Paris, 108
Pearl Harbor, 252
Pepsi-Cola, 248, 250, 257
Pepys, Samuel, 74
Pernambuco, 36
Peter the Great, 91
pewter, 70
Philadelphia, 83, 107, 156
Philippines, 90, 159, 172
pineapples, 60
Polo, Marco, 38
Pomet, Monsieur, 17
Pompeii, 20, 22, 24
population increases, 120–1, 129
Porcelain, 69–70, 76
Post Foods, 222
preservatives, 97
preserving and pickling, 136
Public Health England, Sugar Reduction report, 272–3, 278
puddings, 93
Puerto Rico, 35, 54, 102, 156, 162–3, 172
Puget Sound ferries, 195
punch bowls, 103
Quakers, 67
railways, 129, 138
rainforests, 52, 55
rats, 56–7
recipe books, English, 15
Reciprocity Treaty, 157
refrigeration, 136
Reunion, 160
Rhode Island, 103
Richards, Frank, 192
Rigaud, Hyacinthe, 23–4
Rochdale, 15, 62, 67
Rochefoucauld, François de la, 141
Rockefeller, John D., 131–2
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 165
root beer, 246
‘rose sugar, 9
Rose’s Lime Juice, 246
Rowlandson, Thomas, 191
Rowntree, Seebohm, 183
Royal College of Surgeons, 28, 206
Royal Commission for Sugar Supplies, 180–1
Royal Navy, 105, 117
rubber, 60
rum, 38–9, 87, 98, 102–18, 181–2
rum punch, 103, 112
saccharin, 259
St Croix, 57
St Domingue, 24–5, 39, 41, 57, 82, 111, 141–2
St Kitts, 39–40, 55, 57
salt reduction, 278–80
Samoa, 203
SãoTomé, 32–7, 126
sarsaparilla, 246
Saudi Arabia, 201
Schweppe, Jacob, 246
Seguin, Nicholas, 68
Sèvres porcelain, 70
Shakespeare, William, 19, 191
shopping, 241–2, 273
shops, 65–9
Sierra Leone, 114
Silliman, Benjamin, 247
slaves and slavery, 29–50, 58–61, 286–7
coffles, 33
in Cuba, 153–5
ending of slavery, 59, 119–20, 144, 154–5, 174
freed, 59, 114, 152, 160
Haitian insurgency, 142
investment by owners, 45
legal challenges to slavery, 49
organisation of slave plantations, 46–7
and rum consumption, 102, 104, 110, 117
and rum trade, 115–17
in Southern USA, 59, 148–53
see also indentured labour
smallpox, 45
soda drinks, 225, 247
soft drinks, 245–68
Solomon Islands, 126
soteltes, 13
South Africa, 124–5, 160, 182
Spanish-American War, 159, 162
sports drinks, 209, 219
Spreckels, Claus, 157–8
sucre candi, 69
Sugar Act, 99
sugar bowls, 69–71, 77, 107
sugar prices, 95, 129, 131
sugar rationing, 185–6
sugar refineries, 37–8, 101–2, 107, 122, 129
sugar sculptures, 12–13
sugar taxes, 140, 269, 278–82
Sugar Trust, see American Sugar Refining Company
Sumatra, 84
supermarkets, 241–2, 273, 276
‘sweeteners’, 1
sweetness, language of, 1–2
Swinfield, Bishop of, 65
Taino people, 53, 55, 115
Tarpoley (Cheshire), 15, 17, 67
Tate and Lyle, 185–7
tea, xiv, 23, 26, 46, 48, 59–60, 68–81, 94–5, 97, 99, 113, 177–8, 182, 185, 204, 231
tea services, 74
tea shops, 74
Tenerife, 31
Tenniel, John, 192
Thailand, 201
Thousand and One Nights, The, 8
timber, 35
Times, The, and sugar tax, 279–80
Tirel, Guillaume (Taillevent), 12
tobacco, 23, 58, 81, 97, 112, 116–17, 132, 138, 280
industry and regulation, 214–15
‘sugar is the new tobacco’, 290
tooth decay, 285–6
among British children, 26–8, 179, 205–7
among French, 23–6
Traditional Medicine of the Prophet, The, 5
Trinidad, 124, 160
Twain, Mark, 134
USA
coffee-drinking, 84–7, 113, 131
development of sugar industry, 128–39, 147–51