Sugary surprise

If you occasionally – or frequently – indulge in a sweet treat, there may be an unusual fact to learn. Sugar from sugar cane is typically treated with bone char. Just as the name implies, bone char is made from cattle bones. The vegan, vegetarian, and kosher communities have debated the impact of this fact for years.

Sugar refining involves a number of steps. Sugar beets and sugar cane are the two major sources of sugar. Once harvested, sugar cane is juiced; residual dirt and cane particles are settled out, and the juice is boiled to create sugar syrup. More boiling removes water and allows crystals to form. At this point, it is raw brown sugar. Refining then involves a few more steps, including the extraction of molasses, to create white sugar. At this point, many sugar refineries use bone char to filter the sugar. Other possible filters, which are used to strip the colour and absorb inorganic material, include granulated carbon and ion exchange. Sugar beets go through a slightly different process to extract sugar.

Cattle bones are sold for use in the gelatin industry. After this, they are reduced to bone char for sugar refining. This process involves burning the bones at high temperatures, producing activated carbon. The same char is reused, after washing to remove residue. Companies claim that bone char is economical and efficient, as well as reusable.

Other uses of bone-derived carbon include soil fertilizer, fish farming and other forms of water treatment, as well as for black pigment in a variety of applications.

In Canada, Rogers Sugar does use bone char for its cane sugar, such as at the Vancouver refinery, but not beet sugar, from its Taber, Alberta, plant. Packages are marked with a V or T in the code, but consumers usually get the locally refined version. Check with local sugar manufacturers, as some do not use bone char.

Now, if you are thinking about switching to brown sugar, that may not address the issue. Most brown sugar is, ironically, sugar stripped of its molasses, filtered, and then molasses is added back. Most refined sugars will be treated with bone char. Beet sugar, however, does not typically require bone char in the refining process. Turbinado sugar and organic sugar are also free from this process. Sugar is also produced from date palms, barley and other sources. In India and other Asian countries, unrefined sugar – known as jaggery or gur – is used. So there are a variety of alternatives to the standard white sugar familiar in many countries.

Some companies are turning to new filtration agents; South Africa’s Illovo Sugar has recently contracted to use synthetic anthracite and maddox granular manganese catalyst instead of bone char. It’s unclear whether these chemicals sound more appetizing or not.

Sugar is big business globally, considering its central role in many foods. There are a number of organizations devoted to sugar research, and many recognizable brand-name companies are members. Much of the work focuses on improving efficiency and solving problems in the refining process. Alternatives to bone char might be another possible area, if consumer demand highlighted this concern.

Hilary Feldman | My Bio & Articles

Hilary Feldman is a freelance writer based in Vancouver, B.C. She writes for parenting, popular science, and environmental publications - combining her interests in protecting the world's diversity for future generations. She has ...