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This is a Lyle's golden syrup can with handle and clip lid, made of metal with a design in gold, green and white. It is made to hold 14lbs of syrup. Manufactured by Lyle & Tate.

1 golden syrup can: metal; good condition

MERL Catalogue Form (temporary) – ‘Can, golden syrup // metal // Lyle’s Golden Syrup // Metal can with handle and clip lid. Painted gold, green and white // manufactured 1970s can to hold 141lbs of syrup // Miss Lucy Jewell, Elm Road Reading’, Object history research, John Masters, April 2020 - How can this object be described? // This is a Lyle's Golden Syrup can with handle and clip lid, made of metal. It is painted gold, green and white made to hold 14lbs of syrup. Manufactured by Tate and Lyle. This size of container was more likely used in a commercial rather than domestic environment. // How old is it? // It was made in about 1970. It was given to the MERL by Miss Lucy Jewell, Elm Road, Reading. // What is golden syrup? // Golden syrup is a translucent, golden-amber coloured, sweet syrup, which can only be produced commercially and was created in London in the 1880s. It is essentially white sugar/sucrose in a different form. This has been inverted, meaning that the sucrose has been broken down into two simpler sugars, fructose and glucose. The fructose content gives a heightened perception of sweetness so that, when used as a sweetening agent, about 25% less golden syrup can be used than granulated white sugar. // A British tablespoon of golden syrup contains about 60 calories, whereas a British tablespoon of white sugar is about 50 calories. By volume, golden syrup has more calories: by weight sugar has more calories. // The flavour is light and caramel-like but with a finishing acidity that balances the sweetness and largely explains the great popularity of golden syrup. However, unlike varieties of brown sugars that have slight nutritional benefits over white sugar, golden syrup has no dietary advantage; there is no real difference nutritionally. // Golden syrup was once known as light treacle but is only distantly related to genuine treacle, which is a natural product resulting from the refinement of cane sugar into granulated white sugar. // Golden syrup and white sugar have a very similar glycaemic value, meaning that the body processes both at about the same rate. // Uses of golden syrup. // The use of golden syrup as a sweetener has been widely appreciated: World War 1 soldiers used to take it into the trenches to sweeten their tea because an equivalent weight went further than sugar. (During WW1 the “tin” was made from thick cardboard as metal was needed for the war effort). // Golden syrup is best known as a sauce at the bottom of a simple steamed pudding in a treacle sponge, sometimes with only butter added but often also heightened with lemon zest and ginger; those flavourings combined with white breadcrumbs are the basis of treacle tart. // Vegans and vegetarians, who believe bees are injured or killed by commercial honey gathering, use golden syrup as a honey substitute. It can be used wherever honey is used, providing a lesser flavour spectrum but saving rather a lot of cost; this would include on porridge, pancakes and waffles, in flapjacks, ginger cakes and similar. // Golden syrup storage. // Golden syrup lasts at ambient temperature for years in a sealed container. The process by which golden syrup is manufactured means that it is unlikely ever to crystallise. Captain Scott took Lyle’s Golden Syrup with him on his Antarctic expedition in 1910. In 1956 explorers found one of the tins – it was still in good condition. // Golden syrup has been sold in tins, glass jars and squeezy bottles. The most widespread container is the tin illustrated here. Lyles Golden Syrup was first sold in 1885 in the cylindrical tin and has been recognised by Guinness World Records as having the world's oldest branding and packaging. // Picture of a dead lion on Lyles Golden Syrup tins. // The tin bears a picture of the rotting carcass of a lion with a swarm of bees and the slogan "Out of the strong came forth sweetness". This is a reference to the Biblical story in chapter 14 of the Book of Judges in which Samson was traveling to the land of the Philistines in search of a wife. During the journey he killed a lion, and when he passed the same spot on his return, he noticed that a swarm of bees had formed a comb of honey in the carcass. Samson later turned this into a riddle at a wedding: "Out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness". While it is not known exactly why this image and slogan were chosen, Abram Lyle was a deeply religious man, and it has been suggested that they refer either to the strength of the Lyle company or the tins in which golden syrup is sold // Tate and Lyle // As a cooper and ship owner, Abram Lyle was involved in transporting sugar for many years. In 1865, he added sugar refining to his business interests through his co-purchase, of the Glebe Sugar Refinery. After the death of the principal partner, John Kerr, in 1872, Lyle sold his shares and looked for a site for a new refinery. // In 1883 Abram Lyle & Sons started melting sugar at Plaistow Refinery, just 1.5 miles from Henry Tate & Son's Thames Sugar Refinery. Lyle knew that the sugar cane refining process produced a treacle-like syrup that usually went to waste – but that could be refined to make a delicious preserve and sweetener for cooking. "Goldie" was made from the very start, in small but increasing quantities. The syrup was poured into wooden casks and sold to employees and local customers. Word spread quickly, and within a few months, they were selling a tonne a week. Wooden casks were soon replaced by Lyle's Golden Syrup tins in 1885. // In 1921 Henry Tate & Sons and Abram Lyle & Sons merged, between them refining around 50% of the UK’s sugar. A tactical merger, this new company would then become a coherent force on the sugar market in anticipation of competition from foreign sugar returning to its pre-war strength. // In 2010 Tate and Lyle sold its sugar business (EU operations), including the Lyle’s Golden Syrup brand, to American Sugar Refining, Inc (ASR) and ended its long association with refined sugar production. Tate and Lyle now specialise in using innovative technology to turn raw materials like corn, tapioca and oats into ingredients that add taste, texture, nutrients and increased functionality to food and beverages.

England

1970-01-01

Tate & Lyle Refineries Limited (Corporate Body)