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"Between sips of pure Vermont maple syrup, Steve and Diane Gruenke acknowledge they're not sure which of the four grades in front of them they prefer.The Maryland family is visiting Vermont this week and made a stop Monday at specialty food retailer Dakin Farm in Ferrisburgh.The Gruenkes don't often buy real syrup, and say the labeling doesn't make it easy.Under a system Vermont's had in place since the early 1980s, syrup is labelled as Grade A Fancy, Grade A Medium Amber, Grade A Medium Dark, or Grade B.And that, says Dakin's owner, Sam Cutting, leads to confusion. \"We have a problem in this country with people understanding different grades, and we have a problem with exports. It's really a global marketplace right now, with the Internet.\"Cutting, who sells well over 100,000 containers of Vermont syrup a year, is among the chorus of interests pushing for a new grading system in Montpelier.Under a bill which has already swept through the Senate, the Secretary of Agriculture would be empowered to proceed with a change.State Sen. Sara Kittell, chair of the Agriculture Committee, supports the overhaul. \"It's not unrealistic this would be needed when we're selling to people in China, which has no idea about maple syrup.\"Under the new rules, 'Grade A Fancy' would become 'Grade A Golden Color, Delicate Taste.'\u00A0 'Grade A Medium Amber' would morph into 'Grade A Amber Color, Rich Taste.'\u00A0 And so on.The idea, says the state's consumer protection and maple analyst Henry Marckres, is to incorporate a color and flavor descriptor into the label -- and make the grading system uniform across North America's maple producing regions.\"I think it would be easier to decide which one to buy with the new system,\" Diane Gruenke said.Similar legislation is under review in other U.S. maple states, Canadian provinces, and with Agriculture Canada and the U.S.D.A., Marckres noted.Vermont produces more maple syrup annually than any other U.S. state.\u00A0 Quebec dwarfs Vermont's annual output. The industry first considered the problem of different grading terms nine years ago.It has taken this long to achieve consensus.Maple is enjoying a renaissance, it seems, thanks to improved sap extraction technology that has raised annual production dramatically.(Though this winter's unusual warmth diminished Vermont maple production from last year's all-time record yield. Final numbers are not yet available.)\"With us producing more maple than ever before, we want to sell it all over the world,\" Cutting adds. \"So if someone comes here from England and tries maple syrup, we want them to recognize that grade when they're back home and then buy it over the Internet.\"Some Vermont sugarmakers, however, see this as a solution in search of a problem, and plan to make their objections known as the House Agriculture Committee opens hearings on the bill Tuesday afternoon."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.mynbc5.com/article/maple-syrup-grading-system-heading-for-an-overhaul/3302824>