Sugar consumption, a tale of seduction

This post is based on a presentation I gave at the end of my first term on the MA Anthropology of Food course. In groups of two or three we had to pick a foodstuff and talk about aspects of its history or ‘journey’ that interested us. I chose sugar because I was keen to read more of Sidney Mintz’s monograph, Sweetness and Power, which we had looked at earlier that term in relation to the industrialisation of agriculture. My part of the presentation focused on consumption.

Today we think of sugar as a basic foodstuff, but it has not always been that way. Sugar was first recorded in England in AD735, but more frequent mentions of its use do not appear until the 12^th century, when it was used exclusively by royalty. Sugar did not begin to filter down the social spectrum until the 17^th century, when tea and coffee were introduced to the UK, and it did not become widely used by the lower classes until the industrial revolution. 

Use and function

Historically, sugar had important uses and functions other than its most common use today, as a sweetener. Mintz (1986, 1997, 1999) highlights five principle uses and functions for sugar that overlap and intersect over time. These are as a spice, medicine, decorative material and preservative, as well as sweetner.

Spice

Sugar remained a luxury until the 18^th century since it was rare and expensive. Even as it became more readily available, its expense still limited its use to a spice or condiment. The notion of using sugar as a spice, rather than sweetener, may seem strange to us today, but there are some modern examples of this kind of use which can help us to make sense of the idea.

Hot cross buns, Gail's Bakery, Crouch End

Mintz (1986: 87) uses the example of festive foods, such as glazed ham, suggesting that the reason we still use sugar as a spice in this way is because traditions associated with particular events and festivals tend to be preserved, while everyday practices may change over time. I also realised when reading about this that I sometimes use sugar as a spice when I add it to a tomato-based pasta sauce to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes. 

Medicine

“So useful was sugar in the medical practice of Europe from the thirteenth through the eighteenth centuries that the expression “like an apothecary without sugar” came to mean a state of utter desperation or helplessness” (Mintz, 1986: 101) 

In the modern context of health and nutritional issues, it may seem strange that sugar was once used as a medicine. Sugar as medicine reached Europe via Islamic practice and is documented from the 11^th century. It was an important part of medical remedies in Europe until the 19^th century.

Sugar was prescribed for fever, dry coughs, pectoral ailments, chapped lips and stomach diseases among myriad other ailments. Since these remedies were only available to the very rich, honey was often used for poorer patients. Perhaps this is why honey is still seen as having curative properties, for example, honey and lemon drinks for a bad cough.

Sugar used in food was also supposed to serve medicinal purposes. It wasn't until the 16th century that a connection was made between sugar consumption and rotten teeth, something which the English had gained a reputation for. Mintz (1986: 134) quotes a German traveller of the 16^th century who met Queen Elizabeth at court:

"The Queen, in the 65th year of her age (as we were told), very majestic; her face oblong, fair but wrinkled; her eyes small, yet black and pleasant; her nose a little hooked, her lips narrow, and her teeth black (a defect the English seem subject to, from their too great use of sugar)."

In the 18^th century it was discovered that sugar consumption also contributes to body fat and its medical role steadily diminished from the 19^th century.

Decoration

Sugar as a decorative substance spread in Europe in the 13^th century from the Middle East and Africa. Sugar sculptures or 'subtleties' featured in royal feasts in 15^th and 16^th century Europe.

Window display at Dunn's Bakery, Crouch End

These decorations were important not only because they pretty and edible. Sugar was desirable and expensive and the amount of sugar needed restricted the practice to nobility at first. By the 16^th century the upper classes were imitating them as a validation of social position.

Sugar is still used as a decoration today, for example, icing and marzipan, but it's no longer a symbol of rank. “As sugar became cheaper and more plentiful, its potency as a symbol of power declined while its potency as a source of profit gradually increased.” (Mintz, 1986: 95). On the contrary, roles reversed and the rich and powerful began to repudiate sugar consumption.

Window display at Coffee Cake, Crouch End

Preservative

Sugar’s preservative qualities have been known for a long time. Until the 19^th century its use as preserve was mostly in the form of candied fruits and fruits in syrup. Around 1875 it gained more importance as it came to be used in mass-produced jams, jellies and marmalades. Cheap jams made with very little fruit became an important feature of working class diets.

Sweetener

Mintz (1986, 1997, 1999) links the use of sugar as a sweetener to tea, coffee and cocoa, tropical products that were all new to England in the 17^th century. Sugar was added as a sweetener to what are otherwise bitter beverages, but it is interesting that tea, coffee and cocoa never had sugar added in the countries they originated from.

As with other uses, these exotic imports were all used first by wealthy classes and later by the poor. Mintz suggests that sugar appealed to the poor because of their meagre diets and the bad British weather – sugar was a cheap source of quick energy and a hot drink could ‘hit the spot’ where a hot meal was lacking.

Tea at Haberdashery, Crouch End

Between the late 17^th century and 18^th century sugar also became important as a sweetener in confectionery and desserts. Then in the late 18^th and early 19^th century people began to eat more bread baked outside the home – saving time and fuel costs – and these were often sweetened. 

Raspberry sponge at Haberdashery, Crouch End

This sweetening of processed foods has become more significant over time. Michael Heasman (2009), a writer and researcher specialising in food business and policy, suggests that a shift from sugar consumed direct from the packet, i.e. in tea or cooking, to the consumption of sugar as an ingredient in processed foodstuffs is notable in the latter half of the 20th century. In the 1980s sugar in processed foods accounted for more than 70% of sugar use in the UK.

Rise of Consumption

“A rarity in 1650, a luxury in 1750, sugar had been transformed into a virtual necessity by 1850” (Mintz, 1986: 148).

In tracking the changes in use and function of sugar over time, a huge rise in consumption is self evident, but here are just some of the statistics showing the exponential rise of consumption from the 17^th century to today. Mintz (1997) tells us that sugar consumption in England:

• Increased fourfold in last 4 decades of the 17^th century
• Trebled during first four decades of the 18^th century
• More than doubled again in the decades that followed – this is particularly significant when we consider that the population grew by less than half in that time
• 19^th century – equally impressive increases
• 20^th century – no remission until the 1990s

Today, Sucden, a leading world sugar trader, tell us that a world population of 7 billion people consumes roughly 165 million tonnes of sugar, which is 23kg per capita, with growth concentrated in developing nations.

Innate liking

Is all this consumption of sugar evidence of an innate human liking for it? Some scholars argue that our taste for sugar is innate, a biological predisposition which helps us seek out good energy sources in plant material (e.g. Winkler, 2009; Coldwell, 2009). Others place more emphasis on sociological and cultural explanations (e.g. Mintz, 1986, 1997, 1999; Beardsworth and Keil, 1997).

Photo courtesy of Julia WaringMintz changed his perspective overtime, becoming less sceptical of the biological explanation, though always emphasising the importance of cultural preferences. Beardsworth and Keil also discuss this issue, arguing for a balanced perspective, which takes into account the cultural and symbolic context.

From this, I would suggest that humans probably do have an innate liking for sweetness, but that how that manifests itself depends on sociological factors.

Sociology of consumption

Mintz connects the history of sugar consumption by the masses to the rise of wage labour in the UK and the emergence of a global, capitalist market. He places particular emphasis on time: as women went out to work, they had less time to prepare meals which led to an emphasis on foods prepared outside the home, for example, shop-bought bread that was often sweetened and eaten with jam.

This was associated with a decline in nutritional standards, for example, as bread and jam became a staple meal for poorer families. “Tea breaks” also became part of the daily routine, which not only included sweetened tea or coffee, but also sugary snacks.

Mintz outlines how the journey of sugar from luxury to basic essential was associated with new or modified social meanings. Sugar once embodied the social position of the wealthy and powerful, but more regular consumption has led to a proliferation of meanings for different users as it becomes part of their daily ritual.

Window display at Dunn's Bakery, Crouch End

Beardsworth and Keil give an overview of some of the other literature on the sociology of sugar consumption, which demonstrate the cultural and symbolic power of sweet foods. I found the work by Allison James (1990), Professor of Sociology at the University of Sheffield, the most interesting. James looks at why, despite health warnings, sugar and confectionery still continue to play such a prominent role in everyday eating. She suggests that this is because confectionary is assigned symbolic significance beyond the realm of ordinary food. For example, confectionery is consumed on ritual occasions, it is given as a gift and can be a reward for children for eating ordinary foods.

Passionfruit sponge, Haberdashery, Crouch End

Final thoughts

It is clear from all of the scholarship I have read on the subject that sugar permeates not only our food supplies, but also our consciousness. Its versatility has led to new uses and functions over time and these have in turn led to new social meanings and the entrenchment of sugar in our daily rituals. With growth predicted for sugar sales in developing countries and sugar in various guises being included in an increasing variety of industrially processed foodstuffs in the West, sugar seems unlikely to diminish in significance in the near future, either in real terms, symbolically or sociologically.

Chocolate fondant, Gail's Bakery, Crouch End

References

A note on references: as this was given as a speech, I did not cite references systematically throughout.  Any information not cited directly with in-text references was taken from Mintz’s writings on the subject.

Beardsworth, A. and Keil, T. (1997) ‘Sugar and Confectionary: Sweetness in the Human Diet’ in Sociology on the Menu: An Invitation to the Study of Food and Society. London: Routledge, 242-253.

Coldwell, S. (2009) ‘The big question – Sugar: an unhealthy addiction?’ in Food Ethics: Sugar a Bitter Pill? 4(2), 21 [online].

Mintz, S. 1986 [1985]. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History, London: Penguin.

Mintz, S. 1997. ‘Time, Sugar, and Sweetness’ in Counihan, C. and Van Esterik, P. (eds) Food and Culture: A Reader. London: Routledge, 357-369.

Mintz, S. 1999. ‘Sweet Polychrest’ in Social Research, 66(1), 85-101 [online].

Heasman, M. 2009. ‘The Persistence of Sugar in the UK Food Supply’ in Food Ethics: Sugar a Bitter Pill? 4(2), 31-33 [online].

Winkler, J.T. 2009. ‘Consuming Sugar: Where Next for Public Health Strategies?’ in Food Ethics: Sugar a Bitter Pill? 4(2), 40-41 [online].

Thanks to Coffee Cake, Dunn's Bakery, Gail's Bakery, and especially Haberdashery in Crouch End for letting me take photos. Thanks to Julia Waring for the photo of the fruit.

Comments

[Charlie Brown]

This post makes me want a big fat sponge cake! Those photos are so great...but I am sad that I never made it to Dunn's Bakery, the cakes look amazing (the sunflower cupcakes particularly tickle my fancy!).
It is interesting how sugar has become such a 'naughty' word because of our overuse of it! I remember you once saying many moons ago that if you had kids you would teach them to crave an apple over a mars bar or a cupcake...I wonder given what you spoken about above how easy this would be?!!!
I can't believe it wasn't until the 17th/18th centuries that sugar was used as a sweetener in desserts?!! That seems very late! My goodness can you imagine being the first chefs to try it out - you would be worshiped...no?!
x

[Vix]

Hi Cha, thanks for the comment. (1) Ah yes, I clearly had an interest in sociology from a young age - I think my theory was that junk food is partly so attractive to kids because it is considered a treat, something naughty, or a reward for children for eating ordinary food, as James (1990) would have it. The plan was to socialise my kids to think dried apricots and the like were treats. Wishful thinking. (2) Dunn's Bakery does make very pretty cakes, but I like the rustic nature of Haberdashery's cakes best. (3) I am always amazed that someone decided to mix together flour, sugar, butter and eggs, put it in the oven and hope for the best. I mean, given we are supposed to be so precise in our measurements, it is a wonder that anyone came up with it at all, at least without modern technology.

[Charlie Brown]

Yes so true! I have always wondered who found out all the different things you could do with eggs???!!!
That's right - I remember now about the treat/ordinary food thing. I suppose the difficulty is all the other kids who would think sweets were treats and then your kid would realise he'd been conned?!!!
You're right - the rustic sponges look relish and much better tasting than the sunflower cakes…I just like sunflowers!
Mmmm

[Vix]

Hi Cha, yes, you're right. I think it might work up till primary school age but not long after that! :) x

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