What does 100% pure maple syrup actually mean?

Today’s supermarket shelves are awash with claims. Some products are genuinely natural, whereas others are billed as very close to the real thing; but actually aren’t.

One word changes a lot. For example, a sweetener labelled as ‘maple-style syrup’ isn’t what you might think. This type of product – also often labelled as ‘pancake syrup’ or ‘breakfast syrup’ – is an artificial sweetener, rather than being derived wholly from the maple tree.

Then there is 100% pure maple syrup. This is a product you can ‘hang your hat on’.

A product labelled as 100% pure maple syrup means the product contains only concentrated sap boiled down from maple trees, with zero artificial ingredients, additives, or added sugars.

What purity means

Compared to highly processed foods, there is very little to pure maple syrup production. Tapping – that is, the process of drilling holes in maple trees and collecting the sap inside – is followed by a filtering and boiling process.

To sum up, with pure maple syrup, you can rest assured of the following:

– A single ingredient – the bottle contains only natural tree sap which has been boiled down to a concentrate that becomes maple syrup.

– No additives – there are no artificial flavours, chemical preservatives, or colourings in the syrup.

– No corn syrup – unlike the cheap ‘maple-style syrup’ or ‘pancake syrup’ that we described earlier, 100% pure maple syrup contains no high-fructose corn syrup or refined cane sugar fillers.

Pure vs artificial syrup

To underline the difference between natural maple syrup and artificial alternatives, note the following definitions:

Pure maple syrup is made directly from nature; the boiling of maple tree sap. It contains trace minerals like manganese (which supports bone health, energy metabolism, antioxidant defense and wound healing) and beneficial plant compounds.

Pancake / table / maple-style syrup is made from cheap refined corn syrups, with artificial maple flavouring and caramel colour. It may be designed to imitate maple syrup that comes from a maple tree, but in fact, it is far removed from nature.