Ever wonder why jelly and Maple Syrup keep (fail to spoil) without
adding a chemical preservative?
Sugar is a preservative so long as it is added so the dissolved solids
equal 65.5 percent. I don't understand all of the chemistry surrounding it
but I'm told that sugar kills organisms via osmosis (movement from a lower
density {from the bodies of organisms} to a higher density {the sugar
solution}).
[NAFEX] Sugar as a preservative,
Jim Fruth, 02/01/2009