General & History
Sugar came to Europe during the Crusades. The Arabs had learned of
cane sugar from their invasion of Persia where Darius had centuries before
discovered "honey without bees" from his invasion of India.
Sugar cane appears to have been enjoyed by humans in Indonesia 10,000
years ago but was first exploited as an industrial product in India.
Because cane grows only in the tropics it was long very expensive
in Europe due to trade monopolies and luxury taxes - in fact it was so
expensive it was presumed to be a powerful medicine. Some things just never
change.
Since sugar was an item of prestige, the stage was set for a sugar binge
when it became inexpensive, just as white rice did in Southeast Asia. Just
as with white rice health problems followed (ask George Washington about
his teeth).
The Spanish brought sugar cane to the New World where it grew
exceedingly well. Molasses, a byproduct of sugar refining, became a key in
the "Triangle Trade". The English bought slaves in Africa and sold them to
sugar plantations in the West Indies. Molasses was shipped from the West Indies
to New England for conversion to rum. The English traded manufactured goods
to New England for rum and raw materials, then sold manufactured goods and
New England rum in Africa to buy slaves to sell in the West Indies.
While it had been known for over 150 years that sugar could also be made
from beets, production of beet sugar didn't began until the Napoleonic wars
when England cut off the cane sugar supply to continental Europe. It is now
grown and refined widely in North America and Europe.
Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners have a checkered history. They've been quite
successful in diet soft drinks, but have been less successful in baked goods
where baking temperatures destroy them and where sugar does more than
just sweeten. Research continues.
The safety of artificial sweeteners has been hotly debated, particularly
as regards cancer, and will continue to be hotly debated for the foreseeable
future. All sides accuse the others of "bad science", and all parties are
likely correct on at least that one point. Research Continues, but it is
probable that if you did drink 800 cans of diet soft drinks a day you
probably would not die of cancer.
- Acesulfame K [Ace K, Sweet One, Sunnett, acesulfame potassium]
Similar to Saccharin but resistant to baking temperatures, it is now
found combined with Sucralose in some baked goods. Studies of its safety
have so far been few.
- Aspartame [NutraSweet, Equal] was discovered in 1965. It is used
in Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi and other products. Aspartame can't be used in
baked goods because it can't stand heat. It has been accused of causing
brain and other cancers but research is too flawed and inconsistent for
any opinion.
- Cyclamate [Canadian Sweet 'N Low] was discovered accidentally in
1937 and was the leading artificial sweetener in the U.S. until banned by
the FDA in 1970 because massive doses caused cancer in rats. This ban is
not in place in most countries and still highly controversial due to
the massiveness of the doses. The FDA is considering reconsidering.
- Dulcin was used during World War I. It was tasty but toxic and was
withdrawn after a few children died from it.
- Neotame, the latest sweetener approved by the FDA is 7000 to 13,000
times sweeter than sugar.
- Rebiana A sweetener being developed by Cargil derived from
Stevia. It doesn't yet have FDA approval so is not yet
on the market.
- Saccharin [U.S. Sweet'N Low] was discovered accidentally in 1879.
It's major problem is an odd lingering aftertaste. In 1977 Massive doses
(similar to the Cyclamate study) fed to rats caused cancer, so the FDA was
going to ban saccharin, but 30 million angry overweight peasants with
torches and pitchforks pounding at their door caused them to reconsider.
Warning labels were added to saccharin packages but removed in 2000.
Saccharin is baned in Canada with U.S. banned Cyclamate taking its
place.
- Sucralose [Splenda] is made by adding chlorine to regular sucrose
(cane/beet sugar) making it sweeter and indigestible (0 calories). The FDA
approved it in 1998, and competitors immediately sued the makers over the
claim "made from sugar, tastes like sugar". Splenda now has 50% of the
artificial sweetener packet market.
Beet Sugar [Sucrose]
Sugar beet is a major crop in North America and Europe and has the
advantage that it can be grown much closer to the customers in those areas.
Beet and cane sugar are both sucrose and completely interchangeable. A
molasses is produced by refining beet sugar but it isn't like cane molasses
and is used for animal feed.
Birch Syrup - [varies but
roughly Fructose 50%, Glucose 45%, other sugars 5%]
Birch syrup is made by methods similar to making
Maple Syrup but from birch trees in regions so cold
maple trees dare not go there. Birch syrup is made in Alaska, Siberia,
Finland and the coldest parts of Canada.
Originally there was only one grade, dark - too dark and too strong to
pour on pancakes but only used as a flavoring ingredient. Modern methods
of lower temperature processing have made possible lighter grades similar to
the grades of maple syrup. Birch syrup is made in quantities so small the
USDA has been uninterested in regulating so grade names are arbitrary and
simply made up by individual producers.
Birch syrup is much more difficult to make than maple syrup so costs
about five times as much. Alaska is considered a large producer but total
output there is probably under 2000 galons U.S. per year. In Siberia and
Finland birch sap is also made into soft drinks, beer and vinegar.
Cane Sugar - [Sucrose]
The sugar cane, Saccharum officinarum, is now grown throughout
the tropics. Cane is crushed for the juice from which sugar is extracted
in several "boilings".
Sugar can be dried and packaged before all the color and "impurities" are
removed. This may be done for flavor, for a "natural" color, or to satisfy
"health enthusiasts" who think they're getting a more nutritious product.
Well, they are, but nutrition in such minute amount as to not matter one
iota - it's sugar and just as bad for you as any other sugar.
Molasses is a byproduct of this process.
Cane sugar is sold commercially in several forms:
- Barbados Sugar is the same as Muscovado sugar.
- Brown Sugar is made by mixing some syrup back into the sugar.
Color and consistency depend on how much and what darkness of syrup is
used.
- Castor Sugar is white sugar with a very small crystal size.
- Confectioner's Sugar is white sugar ground to a fine powder and
mixed with cornstarch to keep it from caking. Because of the cornstarch it
cannot substitute for other sugars.
- Demerara Sugar is an "uncontrolled substance" which may be a
partially refined sugar with residual nutrients or may be manufactured
out of white sugar at a factory in England or Canada. Named for Demerara,
Guyana, it is made up of fairly large, slightly sticky crystals with a
distinctly yellow tint. In England it is the preferred sugar for coffee.
- Golden Syrup is a white sugar syrup which
has been processed to split some of the sucrose into glucose and
fructose to prevent it from crystallizing.
- Icing Sugar (see Confectioner's Sugar).
- Jaggery is partially refined sugar sold in
loafs in Indian groceries. Note that some "jaggery" is not cane sugar but
one or another variety of Palm Sugar. Palm is more
expensive.
- Muscovado sugar is properly a dark sticky sugar with a molasses
flavor from the first boiling in the refining process. Today it is most
likely faked up from refined sugar and molasses at a refinery. It should
have a rum and molasses flavor and is available in dark and light
versions.
- Powdered sugar (see Confectioner's Sugar)
- Preserving Sugar is a white sugar of very large crystal size.
- Raw Sugar can be just about anything the seller wants it to be,
a partially refined sugar or a white sugar some refining byproducts have
been added back to. Jaggery from India is actually a
partially refined, thus "raw" sugar.
- Refiners Syrup - same as Golden Syrup.
- Turbinado Sugar is supposed to be "washed raw sugar" from which
some of the surface molasses has been removed but may be faked up at a
refinery. It is named after the "turbines" used for the first separation
and is similar to Demerara Sugar.
Coconut Sugar
A variety of Palm Sugar, generally a bit darker
and with a smokier flavor than sugar from the Palmyra Palm.
Corn Syrup
Corn Syrup, a sugar that's almost entirely glucose, is created by enzyme
processing corn starch. It can be further enzyme processed into
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) which is sweeter, thus less is
needed.
High Fructose Corn Syrup [HFCS]
Corn Syrup can be further enzyme processed to convert some of the
glucose into fructose (about 42% fructose). The process, introduced
in the 1970s, produces a sweeter syrup so less needs to be used in a
product, saving money.
Health effects of HFCS are controversial. Some claim it increases
obesity and diabetes, others claim it's no worse than other sugars in that
respect and overall sugar consumption is the problem.
Date Sugar
Made by granulating dried dates, this is used as a "finishing sugar"
for toppings, pastries and fruit. It remains granular rather than dissolving
easily like other sugars so cannot be used as a substitute for them.
Golden Syrup - [Refiners syrup]
This is a plain sugar syrup (sucrose) partially broken down into
Invert Sugar consisting of fructose and glucose. This
sugar syrup will not crystalize, making it desirable for bakers. Partially
inverted sugar can be made in the home by adding a gram of citric acid per
kilogram of sugar when making a simple sugar syrup and cooking the syrup
for a longer time.
Gur - [Jaggery, gur (India)]
- Gur is synonymous with Jaggery.
Honey
Zillions of bees visit hundreds of zillions of flowers and suck the nectar
out of them (which is there to attract pollinating bees).
When they return
to their hive they barf it up into wax cells where it is mixed with antiseptic
substances secreted by the insects, properly dehydrated and then capped. Bees
are very industrious and manufacture a lot more honey than they actually
need.
Beekeepers break into the beehives and remove most of the wax "honeycombs"
as rent for living in a beehive provided by the beekeeper and conveniently
prefitted with wax honeycomb bases ready to start filling. It's not all
that hard on the bees, they really don't have much else to do anyway.
Honey varies in flavor depending on the kind of flowers that predominate
in the area, such as sage and orange blossom honey which can be sold
at gourmet prices.
Honey is minimally processed, basically just drained off the wax (and
sometimes not even that), but it's still sugar. It's about 80% sugar and
17% water. The main sugars are fructose (38%), glucose (31%), maltose (7%)
and sucrose (1%). It contains a number of vitamins, minerals and proteins
but in far too small a quantity to be nutritionally significant. It also
contains acids, hydrogen peroxide and other anti-bacterial substances.
Invert Sugar - [Trimoline, Golden Syrup]
Cane sugar (sucrose) processed to break sucrose molecules into one
glucose and one fructose molecule. This gives the sugar a "more rounded"
flavor and it won't crystalize, preferred by bakers. Golden Syrup is a
partially converted syrup.
Jaggery [jaggery, gur (India),
nam taan oi (Thai)]
An unprocessed sugar, generally cane sugar but sometimes palm sugar,
much used in India and Southeast Asia. It will be cane sugar unless
marked "palm jaggery" because palm is generally more expensive. The flavor
of cane jaggery is between dark sugar and molasses. See also
Palm Sugar.
Jaggery is commonly molded into blunt cones as in the photo, which may
be anywhere from a few ounces to 10 pounds. Other shapes are also sometimes
found. Subst: Mexican Piloncillo (closest) or dark
brown sugar.
Maple Syrup - [Sucrose]
Maple syrup is a sweetener made by boiling down the sap of a hardwood
tree of the soapberry family, the Maple (Acer). Maple syrup finds
wide use for pouring on breakfast pancakes and as a flavoring ingredient
in baked goods and candies. The sap is produced only in very cold forest
areas, mainly Vermont and Canada, both of which claim their maple syrup is
better than the other. The production season generally lasts for 6 weeks
in the Spring.
Maple Syrup grades are established by the USDA. Canada adheres to similar
grading but uses different names. These are not quality grades. There
are no cheap Chinese sugar maples so we presume all the trees are of the
highest quality. These are usage grades, and the makers have little control
as to what grades they'll get in any particular year, that's pretty much up
to the trees.
- Grade A Light Amber is the lightest grade and has the mildest
maple flavor. It's usually made early in the season when the weather is
colder. This grade is preferred for making maple cream and maple candy.
- Grade A Medium Amber is somewhat darker, and the maple flavor is
a little more intense. This is the most popular table syrup grade. It usually
is made about mid-season when the weather warms a bit.
- Grade A Dark Amber is the darkest grade commonly used as table
syrup and is normally made late in the season.
- Grade B is often called Cooking Syrup and is made late in the
season. It is very dark with a strong maple flavor, but some prefer it as
table syrup for just that reason. Most use it for baking, and flavoring
foods.
Molasses - [Treacle (British)]
Molasses is a black sticky byproduct of refining sugar. At one time it
was the standard sweetener in the U.S. (now replaced by High Fructose Corn
Syrup) so many older recipes call for it. If no qualifiers are given,
presume it's "dark molasses".
Cane sugar is refined in several boilings, each with its byproducts.
- Unsulfured Molasses is made from sun ripened cane.
Sulfured Molasses is made from green cane treated with sulphur
fumes.
- First or Light Molasses is a light colored product from the
first boiling or the cane squeezings and has a high sugar content.
- Second or Dark Molasses is from the second boiling. Less sweet
with just a touch of bitterness.
- Blackstrap Molasses comes from further boilings, is less sweet and
more bitter. Blackstrap molasses somehow became a "health food" icon even
though it may concentrate all the impurities and pesticides from the sugar
cane.
Palm Honey
Palm sap boiled down to a honey like consistency. See
Palm Sugar for details.
Palm Sugar
A number of Palms are used to make
palm sugar. Immature flower buds are pounded and cut to exude a sweet sap
(sweet toddy) which is collected and boiled down to sugar of various
consistencies. It is most available in the U.S. as small cakes sold in markets
serving a Southeast Asian communities and in Indian markets as "Palm Gur" or
"Palm Jaggery".
This is a very light and flavorful sugar with a lot more
nutrients left in it than most sugars and is very important in the cuisine
of Thailand. It is commonly available in the U.S. but if you don't have it
substitute equal parts of light brown sugar and maple syrup.
Piloncillo (variously spelled)
Mexican Jaggery. It comes in two varieties, light (blanco) and darker
(oscuro). The loaves are generally pointier and smaller than the product
from India, weighing between 3/4 ounce and 9 ounces. Similar products are
made in other Central and South American countries and It's easy to find in
any grocery that serves a Latin community. Subst: Jaggery
(closest) or dark brown sugar (close enough for government work).
Sorghum Syrup
Sorghum Syrup is made from sorghum grain, the seed of a grass grown worldwide
as a major food crop. For syrup a particular cultivar known as "sweet sorghum"
is used.
Sorghum syrup has long been used in the American South for pouring
over pancakes, biscuits and corn bread and as a flavoring ingredient much as
maple syrup has been used up north. This usage has become much less common
now that artificial maple syrup and other sweeteners have become widely
available.
Stevia
A Paraguayan herb the leaves of which are extremely sweet. An extract
from the leaves is hundreds of times sweeter than table sugar, has
almost no calories and is safe for diabetics. It has been widely used in
Japan for 30 years to replace artificial chemical sweeteners but is not
approved in the U.S., Canada or the European Union. Under current FDA
regulations it is now legal to own and even sell stevia, but in doing so
you may not call it a "sweetener" or even mention that it's "sweet" - it
must be called a "dietary supplement".
This may not be entirely due to pressure from the sugar and chemical
industries. While it has proved safe in South America and Japan, the FDA
points out it's used sparingly there and expects American dieters will use
it to excess, as they do with every other diet fad that comes along.
Some
negative reproductive effects have been noted from feeding rats and hamsters
heavy doses, so they say more research is warranted. Of course the danger may
be less than for approved Artificial Sweeteners, but
the chemical industry is on the other side there.
Syrup
Any sugar solution or sweetener that is viscous but remains liquid and
pourable. Simple Syrup is just regular refined sugar cooked with some
water.
Treacle
Now mostly a British term, it technically is any syrup made during the
production of sugar from sugar cane. In current usage "Light Treacle"
refers to Golden Syrup and "Black Treacle" refers to
Dark Molasses.
Trimoline - see Invert Sugar.
Health Considerations
| Sugar | Sweetness | Common Name |
| Sucrose | 1.0 | Sugar |
| Glucose | 0.7 | Grape Sugar |
| Fructose | 1.1 | Fruit Sugar |
| Lactose | 0.4 | Milk Sugar |
| Maltose | 0.5 | Malt Sugar |
| Sorbitol | 0.5 | - |
Starches and sugars are carbohydrates manufactured by plants as energy
storage. They can be converted one to the other and in some cases are further
converted into oils. In the case of fruits, that energy is stored for animals
the plant depends on to distribute its seeds (most plants don't travel much).
In the case of nuts, seeds and grains, the storage is for the use of the
plant's own progeny.
Plants convert from one form to another for various reasons. Generally
when its seeds are fully mature a fruit will "ripen", converting starches
to sugars to attract seed distributing animals many of which are partial to
sweet treats.
We inherited this taste for sweet things from our distant ancestors. The
problem is, sugars were rare and hard to get for them. Today they are easily
available and cheap, especially in refined form. We tend to eat far too much
sugar and in refined forms that our ancestors did not consume. This over
consumption is not good for our health.
The food industry is not particularly interested in our health but is very
interested in our willingness to over-consume sweet things, because we pay
them to obtain those things.
The food industry is also anxious to reduce costs for maximum profit, so
it uses the cheapest form of sugars it can get. That happens to be
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), a completely
unnatural product made from (mostly) genetically modified corn using
funguses and genetically modified enzymes.
Soft drink manufacturers now use HFCS in beverages that were once
sweetened with cane sugar. Consumers prefer cane sugar and pay much higher
prices for the same beverage smuggled in from Mexico where cane sugar is
still used. The beverage industry has responded not by selling consumers
what they want but by attempting to stop importation by any means, legal,
non-legal and extralegal.
There is a great deal of controversy over HFCS with both sides claiming
the other side uses deception and "bad science". At this point I have not
personally studied enough of the evidence to state an opinion other than
a natural bias against unnatural products.
What is NOT controversial among health professionals is that Americans
should greatly reduce the total amount of sugars they consume. The food
industry, of course, begs to differ.
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