What is vegan sugar?

The other day when I was strolling down the sugar isle of Whole Foods Market, I noticed that they started to carry 'Vegan Sugar'. That got me so confused. It's sugar. Doesn't sugar come from sugar canes, beets or corn? I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, just a curious consumer so I bought a bag and did a little research. As it turns out, the whitening process of sugar requires the use of bone char which is bone from a cow!

The vegan sugar tasted like regular sugar, well not the white granulated refined sugar, and not quite as deep or rich as raw sugar but in between. Which kinda makes sense, seeing as how the color of the sugar is light golden brown. The retail cost for a two pound bag is quite affordable. I'm so glad that I did the research because it has made me a more informed consumer.

Having lived in Austin, Texas where 'special diets' are normal. I wonder if the rest of the country is as careful or knowledgeable about the ingredients they use to prepare these 'special diet' items.

Tags: diets, special, sugar, vegan

Comment

You need to be a member of PastryChampionship - WorldPastryForum to add comments!

Join PastryChampionship - WorldPastryForum

Comment by Kristi on February 16, 2009 at 8:12pm: I worked on developing vegan caramels for a candy manufacturer, and Vegans absolutely will not use sugar that comes in contact with "bone char". There are many types of vegan sugar...but they are all the same thing it is all how they are processed as it were. I know C & H and Domino being the two larger distributors will not call their sugars vegan (or at least they wouldn't the bulk 50 lb. bags we got) there is at least one company that uses sugar beets exclusively (whose name is evading my memory for the moment) and makes a granulated "white" sugar. And generally the sugar in the raw or natural slightly brown colored sugar or unrefined sugars are generally vegan as well. Be careful on Brown sugar though...as some are granulated refined sugars with molasses added back in.

For the record, I am not a vegan...and this was a huge learning experience for me that will sadly go mostly unused in my current position. But, it was interesting to learn about it. And throughout the process, I had no idea how many odd things were vegan (who knew the stuff in the middle of oreo's was vegan??) I always assumed (though I am a non-oreo eating person...which I'm told is freakishly weird) it was made from some form of animal by product (hence my possible aversion to oreos??).

Comment by Julie MacMillan on February 13, 2009 at 12:26pm: Thanks for the comment. Some of the information I've read did not go into so much detail. One of the sources was a vegan magazine! They just mentioned that bone char was from an animal.

It's just a good thing to know since I'm beginning to notice many more 'Vegan' labeled products on grocery shelves these days.

Comment by Carymax Moderator on February 13, 2009 at 8:31am: Julie:

One thing that many people do not know about sugar processing (white sugar mostly) is that the extracted juice usually gets filtered through charcoal. Without paying very close attention, it is impossible to know if there are any animal bones in the charcoal. Yes, I know, charcoal is supposed to be burnt wood, but very often there are animals remains that get mixed in.

So, is cane juice that gets filtered through charcoal that has animal bones in it Vegan? From an ingredient perspective the answer is yes. From a process perspective the answer is no.

Vegan sugar gets made with liquid (cane, beet, corn, date) that is either not filtered through charcoal that has animal remains in it, filtered some other way, or is not filtered at all.

What is vegan sugar?

You need to be a member of PastryChampionship - WorldPastryForum to add comments!

Badge