Sugar, or sucrose, is a carbohydrate that occurs naturally in every fruit and vegetable in the plant kingdom. It is the major product of photosynthesis, the process by which plants transform the sun's energy into food. Sugar occurs in greatest quantities in sugar cane and sugar beets from which it is separated for commercial use.
2. Is there a difference between sugar produced from sugar beets and sugar produced from sugar cane?
There is no difference in the sugar produced from either cane or beet. Sugar cane, a giant grass, thrives in a warm, moist climate, storing sugar in its stalk. The sugar beet grows best in a temperate climate and stores its sugar in its white root. Sugar from both sources is produced by nature in the same fashion as all green plants produce sugar--as a means of storing the sun's energy.
During the refining process, the natural sugar that is stored in the cane stalk or beet root is separated from the rest of the plant material.
For sugar cane, this is accomplished by a) grinding the cane to extract the juice; b) boiling the juice until the syrup thickens and crystallizes; c) spinning the crystals in a centrifuge to produce raw sugar; d) shipping the raw sugar to a refinery where it is; e) washed and filtered to remove the last remaining plant materials and color; and f) crystallized, dried and packaged.
Beet sugar processing is normally accomplished in one continuous process without the raw sugar stage. The sugar beets are washed, sliced and soaked in hot water to remove the sugar-containing juice. The juice is purified, filtered, concentrated and dried in a series of steps similar to sugar cane processing.
4. What nutrients are present in sugar?
Sugar is pure carbohydrate, an important nutrient that supplies energy to the body. Vitamins and minerals are sometimes present, but in trace amounts. Sugar and other nutritive sweeteners play an important role in making other foods taste better and, through their many uses in cooking, increasing the variety of foods available.
5. Why is sugar found in many processed foods?
Sugar is prized for its sweet taste and has many other functions in cooking and baking. It contributes texture and color to baked goods. It is needed for the fermentation by yeast, which causes bread to rise. Sugar acts as a bulking agent (ice cream, baked goods) and preservative (jams, fruits), and it imparts a satisfying body or "mouth-feel" to beverages. In non-sweet foods -- salad dressings, sauces, condiments -- sugar enhances flavor and balances acid content in tomato and vinegar-based products.
6. How much sugar do Americans eat?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports disappearance, not consumption, figures for sweeteners. USDA estimates that in 1996 about 67 pounds of sugar (cane or beet); 85 pounds of corn sweeteners; and 1 pound of other sweeteners (honey, maple syrup) per capita were delivered into the food supply. That adds up to a total nutritive sweetener usage of about 153 pounds per capita. As disappearance data, these numbers do not account for waste, sugars used up in fermentation as in bread baking, or use in pet foods.
Recently, the Food and Drug Administration estimated that the amount of added sweeteners (sugar + corn sweeteners + other) Americans actually consume is considerably less than disappearance--about 43 pounds per person or about 11 percent of total calories.
Raw sugar is a tan to brown, coarse granulated solid obtained on evaporation of clarified sugar cane juice. Raw sugar is processed from the cane at a sugar mill and then shipped to a refinery. It is about 98% sucrose. Raw sugar is not sold to consumers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration notes raw sugar is "unfit for direct use as food or as a food ingredient because of the impurities it ordinarily contains.
Brown sugar consists of sugar crystals contained in a molasses syrup with natural flavor and color components. Many sugar refiners produce brown sugar by preparing and boiling a special syrup containing these components until brown sugar crystals form. In the final processing the crystals are spun dry in a centrifuge; some of the syrup remains, giving the sugar its characteristic brown color. Other refiners produce brown sugar by blending a special molasses syrup with white sugar crystals.
Honey is a mixture of sugars formed from nectar by an enzyme, invertase, present in the bodies of bees. Honey varies in composition and flavor, depending on the source of the nectar (clover, orange blossom, sage, etc). A typical analysis of honey would show (exclusive of undetermined substances): 38% fructose, 31% glucose, 1% sucrose, 9% other sugars, 17% water and 0.17% ash.
10. Is honey more nutritious than sugar? What about other sweeteners?
On an equal weight basis, there is very little nutritional difference between honey and sugar. Because it weighs more, a teaspoon of honey contains slightly more carbohydrate and calories than a teaspoon of sugar. All nutritive sweeteners (sugar, honey, high fructose corn syrup, maple syrup, fruit juice concentrates) contain primarily sugars and should not be considered a source of other nutrients. (See Chart.)
11. What is blended sugar (sugar/dextrose)?
In some locales, dextrose, a corn-derived sweetener, is added to granulated cane or beet sugar to create a white granulated blend that may be less expensive than traditional sugar. Dextrose is about 70% as sweet as sugar and is more hygroscopic (water attracting). Because of these characteristics, blends may not perform exactly as sugar in certain recipes.
12. What is high fructose corn syrup?
Corn syrups are manufactured by treating corn starch with acids or enzymes. Standard corn syrups used by the food industry as well as the consumer, contain dextrose and other saccharides. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is made by treating dextrose with enzymes. The result (HFCS) is a liquid mixture of dextrose and fructose that is used by food manufacturers in soft drinks, canned fruits, jams and other food applications.
13. What are fruit juice concentrates?
Food manufacturers today use a variety of nutritive sweeteners from traditional sugar to newer fruit juice concentrates. In order to be used as sweeteners, fruit juice concentrates are purified through heat and enzyme processing and filtered to remove fiber, flavor components and impurities. The end product is almost identical (in calories, sugars and nutrients) to sugar syrup. The food industry uses fruit juice concentrates in jams, canned fruits, beverages and some baked goods.
(Click here to see chart)
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