If you’re a person interested in the sweeteners they consume, you’re probably wondering what the difference is between cane sugar and beet sugar.
And what is beet sugar? White table sugar comes from either sugar cane or sugar beet, but is usually sold without specifying the plant source, as the two products are chemically identical.
Refined sugar is pure crystallized sucrose, similar to how it is simply sodium chloride. Sucrose occurs naturally in honey, dates and maple sap, but the highest concentrations are found in sugar cane and sugar beets.
The refining process makes the plant the sugar comes from irrelevant because the sucrose is completely extracted from the plant, .
What is the difference between cane sugar and beet sugar?
However, the differentiation between cane and beet sugar is not just a marketing strategy and is commonly seen in health food stores. To obtain pure white cane sugar crystals, the sugar is usually processed with charred bone; beet sugar does not require this step. Although the final sugar cane product does not contain bones, this distinction is important to many vegans and vegetarians who want to reduce animal suffering.
Also, many bakers and pastry chefs claim that there is a difference between cane and beet brown sugars. The molasses that gives brown sugar its color comes from the processing of sugar cane and is not a quality product obtained from beets. Therefore, brown beet sugar has added cane molasses.
Although the industry claims these products are identical, many chefs use only brown cane sugar, claiming that brown beet sugar affects the products. While some attribute the differences to the minerals in the two plants, it is more likely that the variation is caused by the level of humidity, which can influence .
