25 October 2016

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MADRID - Did you know that Spain is the biggest drop manufacturer in Europe and probably in the world? In Spain, people make more liquor than in the Netherlands where eating liquorice is a national culinary tradition. Most liquorice, however, comes from Spain, a country where people do not like licorice in most cases. Spain has already kicked the Netherlands from the first place on the list of drop manufacturing countries.

A survey by the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) has shown that not the Netherlands but Spain is the country where most liquorice is made. The strange thing is that the Spaniards almost do not eat licorice and so everything is exported to the Netherlands, Germany and various Scandinavian countries.

The Statistics Netherlands survey, based on figures from Eurostat, showed that most liquorice and other sweets are made in Spain and not as many people think in the Netherlands. 35% of all licorice eaten in Europe is made in Spain while 19% of the eaten licorice is made in the Netherlands. The rest is made in other licorice-eating countries.

Factories

European candy manufacturers have many factories in Spain where the Dutch licorice is made. The majority of these factories make little acids, sweets that are eaten in Spain, but they also manufacture a lot of liquorice, more than in the Netherlands. Until recently, the Netherlands was the largest drop producer in Europe with 1.3 billion euros worth of sweets every year, including liquorice. Now, however, the Netherlands is in the second place with Spain first and Germany as third drop producing countries.

Regaliz

Drop, in Spanish regaliz, is made a lot in Spain but the food does not do every Spaniard. The licorice as we know it in the Netherlands is not always good with the Spaniards, too sticky and too salty or sweet. There are variants that are eaten in Spain but they do not look like Dutch liquorice.

The Netherlands is a drop country

According to Wikipedia, about 80% of the Dutch population consume liquorice, 14% of which regularly. The group of 16- to 50-year-olds is most strongly represented; the number of female drop eaters is also greater than the male. The total quantity of licorice drop in the Netherlands is approximately 32 million kilos per year, corresponding to approximately 2 kg per person per year and this quantity has been fairly constant for many years. Approximately 1 to 2 percent of Dutch drop eaters consume more than 100 grams per day.

Healthy?

Eating licorice is of course tasty but not always good for health. The glycyrrhizic acid contained in liquorice licorice extract can result in the consumption of large amounts of dry blood pressure. In addition, there are many sugars and / or salmiak in liquorice which is not always good for health. That does not mean, of course, that eating licorice is tasty ... and addictive!

Source: Spain today

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