Brownsugarexporter.com - Brown sugar is often produced by
adding cane molasses to completely refined white sugar crystals to more
carefully control the ratio of molasses to sugar crystals and to reduce
manufacturing costs.[2] This also allows the production of brown sugars to be
based predominantly on beet sugar. Brown sugar prepared in this manner is often
much coarser than its unrefined equivalent and its molasses may be easily
separated from the crystals by simply washing to reveal the underlying white sugar
crystals; with unrefined brown, inclusion of molasses within the crystal will
appear off-white if washed.
The
molasses usually used for food is obtained from sugar cane, because the flavor
is generally preferred over beet sugar molasses, although in some areas,
especially in Belgium and the Netherlands, sugar beet molasses is used. The
white sugar used can be from either beet or cane, as the chemical composition,
nutritional value, colour, and taste of fully refined white sugar is for
practical purposes the same, no matter from what plant it originates. Even with
less-than-perfect refining, the small differences in colour, odor, and taste of
the white sugar will be masked by the molasses. (BD)