Many have the proverbial ‘sweet tooth’ and Cooma Probus ladies are no exception. The last meeting was a sweet occasion to welcome and induct new members Val Koppman and Lorraine Brown, however it was a ‘bitter sweet’ moment to farewell Elayne Boyle and Loretta Percival who are leaving Cooma.

Both have contributed much to Cooma Ladies Probus over the years and will be greatly missed.

Also of note at the meeting was information if you are unlucky enough to be scammed, you can seek assistance by registering your misfortune with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), which is a government department.

How sweet it was when guest speaker Rod Brown gave an informative talk about sugar and its production from his experience working in the industry. The ladies learned sugar cane is classified as a grass and the Australian sugar cane production is a $2.5 billion dollar industry.

Ninety-five per cent of Australian sugar cane is grown in Queensland, the best of which is sold overseas. Growth of the cane is from nodules. The cane is cut and must be treated within two hours to prevent bacteria taking hold. It is crushed and stabilised so the juice can be extracted which is then processed into crystals in the mill.

Raw sugar is the first of the crystals. Brown sugar is raw sugar ground with molasses added, while other crystals are washed and bleached white and ground to their specifications. After processing, the varieties of sugar are packaged for us to buy.

Sugar is inert, being just mainly glucose and is good if used in healthy quantities however corn syrup, used widely in the United States, has a very high fructose content. Fructose is the sugar naturally occurring in fruits, and according to Rod, fructose is helped along through the body by the high fibre content of natural fruit whereas the body cannot process all the high fructose in corn syrup and stores it in the body thus promoting obesity. Checking labels on foodstuffs can be enlightening.

Probus is looking forward to attending a special talk at Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre scheduled for Wednesday, 18 March starting with morning tea at 10am.

The next club meeting is an important one at 10.30am Wednesday, 11 March at the Cooma Ex-Services Club.

Enjoy a morning where friendships are formed and visitors welcomed.