When only sugar appeared on the table in people, it was brown. They produced such a valuable product from sugar cane by the standards of ancient times. Then they learned to refine and extract it from other plant materials. Sugar was imported into Russia back in the 11th century, but the price of a product allowed it to be purchased only by nobles. And only at the beginning of the XIX century began to establish the production of sugar from a special variety of beets.
On the shelves of shops today you can find both white refined sugar or granulated sugar, and the brown version. Whether refined brown sugar is harmful or there is no difference between them, we will analyze the “flights” and determine what is true and what is not. And also talk about how to distinguish a fake from a real brown sugar.
What types of sugar are
In industry, sugar is distinguished by source of raw materials. The following types are used for the production of confectionery: reed, beetroot, palm, maple.
Any of these types of sugar is refined (cleaned of impurities), but only cane can be used unrefined for food, because the other options have unpleasant taste in an unrefined state.
But not only because of the taste, the raw materials are refined, because sugar is also refined in order to obtain pure sucrose. In the initial product, in addition to the main substance, contains mineral salts, gum, molasses. Based on the cleaning method, all types of sugar can be divided into two classes:
- refined (white, refined sugar);
- unrefined (brown, with impurities).
Can brown sugar be refined?
Thanks to the survey manufacturers on the shelves you can find an unclassified type of sugar - brown, but refined. Roughly speaking, this is a fake for the purpose of gaining, since initially cane raw materials are more expensive than beetroot, therefore sugar, even when unrefined, is more expensive from cane. Therefore, manufacturers issuing white colored sugar for brown can always be found.
To understand the difference between refined sugar and unrefined sugar, you need to look at the composition. Due to its pleasant aroma, only cane sugar can be used unrefined for food, therefore, on the package in the column “composition” there should only be such a name - “unrefined cane sugar”. If the product is made from other raw materials and has additives, then this is a marketing product, and you should not buy such a more expensive option.
The chemical composition and calorie content of white and brown sugar
The chemical composition of refined sugar (white) and unrefined cane (brown) differs in the content of various trace elements in them. Calorie content in two species is almost the same. Therefore, those who are going to introduce cane sugar into their diet program will be disappointed with this indicator.
| Content per 100 g | Refined sugar
(any raw materials) | Reed
raw sugar |
| Calorie content | 387 kcal | 376-380 kcal |
| Carbohydrates | 99.8 g | 96-99.6 g |
| Squirrels | 0 | 0-0.68 g |
| Fats | 0 | 0-1.3 g |
| Calcium | 3 mg | 15-62 mg |
| Phosphorus | 0 | 3-22 mg |
| Magnesium | 0 | 4-117 mg |
| Zinc | 0 | 0.6 mg |
| Potassium | 3 mg | 40-300 mg |
| Iron | 0 | 1-2 mg |
Depending on the quality of the feedstock, brown sugar contains more beneficial trace elements. But it is worth noting that their content is insignificant to make up even part of the daily requirement, to cover it you will need to eat 2 kg of sugar. In order to enrich the body with microelements, you can also drink a glass of water, it also has calcium and magnesium. In sugar, whatever one may say, more harm than good, calorie and sucrose are to blame.
Is cane brown sugar just as harmful as white?
Fans of a healthy diet, of course, will begin to argue that cane sugar will be more useful in any case, and there is some truth to this, because judging by the chemical composition, even in small doses, but useful elements are present. But in practice, people buying a product with a deliberately false prefix “useful” allow themselves to eat it in large quantities. At the same time, sugar crystals are an excellent adsorbent and absorb various trace elements. Therefore, according to experts, goods brought from exotic countries may contain harmful impurities.
Therefore, we can conclude that the brown version, subject to quality manufacture and transportation, will be safer for health than refined sugar. Although excessive consumption of both one and the other will be harmful.
How sugar is refined
If you fully understand the difference between refined sugar and unrefined sugar, and whether white is more harmful than brown, then you should pay attention to the refining process itself.
White sand is obtained using phosphates (used in detergents, unsafe for human health). Then by evaporation get purified cane refined sugar, which is treated with sulfur dioxide as a preservative. Although standardization prescribes acceptable standards for the use of this supplement, problems have recently become more frequent in children with asthma and allergies, therefore, the harm of refined sugar is obvious in this regard.
How to distinguish an unrefined product from a fake
It is believed that pure cane sugar should be dark brown in color, and the darker, the more natural the product. In fact, the color of unrefined sugar depends on the amount of molasses (molasses, caramel-flavored product contained in unprocessed raw materials).
The main thing that you should pay attention to when buying is the packaging, where the following data must be indicated: raw materials (in the case of brown - sugarcane), country of origin (cane is exported from Latin America, Thailand, Asian countries), and the type of sugar (here there may be color differences).
There are also such indirect signs as:
- brown is less loose than refined sugar;
- crystals of different shapes;
- has a caramel smell.
Taste and smell of white and brown sugar
Refined sugar has crystals with clear edges, it is brilliant, white in color, may be with a yellowish tinge. It is completely dissolved in water, without impurities. The taste is pure sweet, without third-party flavors. Coarse-grained and fine-grained have the same sweetness, although often consumers find fine sugar more sweet. This is due to the process of complete dissolution, because larger crystals dissolve longer.
Brown sugar has a mild caramel flavor. It is believed that if you put a spoonful of brown sugar in a glass of warm water, then the fake product will tint the liquid in caramel color. In fact, molasses, like caramel, paints a light golden color liquid upon contact. But here you should be careful: the natural reed variant will retain its color inside the crystals, but the tinted one will turn white.