Darina Allen, Ballymaloe, Co Cork

Dear Sir: This may sound like a strange request but I wonder if any Irish Farmers Journal readers may perchance have a bag or even a half bag of sugar in the back of a cupboard or dresser since circa 2006 when the sugar factory closed in Mallow. Doesn’t matter if it’s a bit damp.

I need to get it scientifically analysed to make a comparison with the sugar now available to us. It is my observation over the past number of years that the sugar we are now using is considerably sweeter than the Irish sugar derived from sugar beet. Consequently we are systematically reducing the sugar by 20% in all our recipes to achieve a similar result.

I would be very interested to hear from any readers who may have observations on this issue or an ‘old’ bag of sugar.