Four jars, four colors: reading a maple syrup label

By Ines Keane

Syrup used to come in Grade A Light, Medium and Dark, plus a Grade B. Then the names changed, and a shopper standing at a shelf of gift tins in November can be forgiven for wondering what happened.

The old names and the new ones

Ohio State University’s extension fact sheet, which is a university source, says the older U.S. system used Grade A Light, Medium and Dark, plus Grade B. It describes a four-grade system adopted in 2013 by the International Maple Syrup Institute, a trade body: Golden Delicate, Amber Rich, Dark Robust and Very Dark Strong.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service published a notice in the Federal Register on May 7, 2014. That notice was a proposal, with a 60-day comment period, and the page we read gives no effective date. It proposed folding Grade B into Grade A and creating four Grade A classes: Golden (delicate taste), Amber (rich taste), Dark (robust taste) and Very Dark (strong taste). The notice gave as its stated reason that consumers are increasingly looking for the darkest color class for cooking and table use.

The Agricultural Marketing Service published its final notice on maple syrup grades in the Federal Register on January 29, 2015. The copies we opened do not state an effective date, so we give none.

Color is a measurement

The standards document defines the Grade A classes by light transmittance, measured as a percentage:

Golden, delicate taste: above 75.0%
Amber, rich taste: 50.0% to 74.9%
Dark, robust taste: 25.0% to 49.9%
Very Dark, strong taste: below 25.0%

The lighter the syrup, the more light passes through. The proposal in the Federal Register used the same four bands, and it said the measurement would use a spectrophotometer or an equivalent method. It also removed references to the older USDA glass color standards.

What the grade does not say

Grade A, in the standards document, requires good and uniform color, good flavor and odor with a maple taste typical of its color class, and no cloudiness, turbidity or sediment. Solids may not exceed 68.9% by weight. Finished maple syrup must be at least 66% solids. Ohio State puts the minimum density at 66 Brix, equal to 66% sugar, and notes that individual state requirements may vary.

So the grade tells you color class and a quality floor. It does not tell you the farm, the season, the evaporator or the tree. Ohio State says sap begins flowing when daytime temperatures rise above freezing and nights drop below freezing, that early sap is clear and gives light, delicate syrup, and that later sap gives darker, stronger syrup. It adds that production happens mainly in February and March and that once the tree buds open, the syrup is no longer palatable.

Where the leftovers went

The standards document defines a Processing Grade for syrup that fails Grade A but meets lower requirements. It may have off-flavors or a very strong taste, must be packed in containers of 5 gallons (20 liters) or larger, and cannot be sold in smaller retail containers. Anything below that is Substandard.

The defects the document counts as damage include “buddy flavor,” described as a disagreeable chocolaty to bitter chocolaty taste from sap collected as trees come out of dormancy, fermentation, badly scorched syrup, and off-flavors or off-odors not normally found in Grade A.

The word “pure”

Here the sources pull apart. Ohio State says USDA Grade A must be “100% pure with no additives,” and that value-added products that start from pure maple syrup but are no longer 100% pure must be labeled maple-flavored.

Storing the jar

Ohio State says refrigerated syrup keeps for months, frozen syrup keeps for several years, and the container’s “Refrigerate after opening” directions should be followed.

Dates in order

2013: the four-grade system is adopted by the maple institute, according to Ohio State.

\- May 7, 2014: the USDA proposal appears in the Federal Register, according to the notice.

\- January 29, 2015: the Agricultural Marketing Service final notice is published in the Federal Register.

Side by side

The two grading vocabularies line up. Golden Delicate matches Golden with delicate taste, Amber Rich matches Amber with rich taste, and so on.

What kind of sources these are

A university extension fact sheet, a federal marketing-service standards document and a federal proposal notice. None is a producer or a seller. None gives a harvest date or says anything about how any single brand grades its syrup.

What we left out

Prices, brands, recipes, health claims, imported syrup rules, and the extension sheet’s mention of barrel-aged products. We left out sap-to-syrup ratios because the sheet we read does not give one.

Quick answers

What are the maple syrup grades? According to Ohio State’s extension sheet, the four classes are Golden Delicate, Amber Rich, Dark Robust and Very Dark Strong, adopted in 2013 by the maple institute. The USDA standards define them by light transmittance.

Is darker maple syrup lower quality? Not according to the sources. The USDA standards place all four classes under Grade A, and Ohio State says the darker, later-season syrup is stronger in flavor.

Does “Grade A” mean the syrup is pure? Ohio State’s extension sheet says USDA Grade A must be “100% pure with no additives.”

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