Sugar

[Pootle]

What is the difference between brown and white sugar and is one relatively better or worse than the other assuming a healthy sugar intake?

Thank in advance

[Ethel]

http://ask.yahoo.com/20000707.html


For what it is worth, if you must have sugar I believe any sugar is healthier than sugar substitutes such as saccharin or subetol.

[qapmoc]

That web site has a very biased answer based on the European way of making brown sugar which is to make purified white sugar and then add molasses to it to make it brown and sticky. The molasses comes from abroad where it is extracted from sugar cane derived sugar.

The sugar cane type of sugar is naturally brown as it contains molasses and you have to process it further and bleach it to get it white.

Its stupid really when you think about it - countries which produce sugar cane sugar extract the molasses to make white sugar and the countries which produce white sugar from beet etc.. import the molasses to add to the sugar to make it brown!!!

The molasses itself contains many minerals such as calcium, copper, iron,zinc etc.. so real sugar cane sugar is probably better for you to use.

Btw, there is a stage in the production of sugar cane sugar which I find a really nice product to eat as it is direct from the production line, it is the final product of sugar before the sugar crystals are removed by spinning in a centrifuge, it is a thick sticky mixture of sugar crystals and thick molasses and it is like eating soft liqorice with sugar crystals in it. Probably bad for your teeth but it tastes really good.

[robertbaggio]

brown sugar is white sugar dyed brown.

[heathfield]

Would you believe that the sugar sold in Barbados, where they grow sugar cane, has been refined in the UK, and the brown sugar sold is white sugar plus molasses!

[nickmo]

And 50% of the sugar refiners in the US use bone char (roasted crushed bones) to filter the sugar to remove impurities after the syrup has been 'purified' through a lime wash, so even sugar gets mucked about with.

Try palm sugar (from asian shops) - that will be a little like the sugar qapmoc mentions.