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01/6Is white sugar vegetarian or non-vegetarian?
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02/6Is sugar really vegetarian?
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Granulated or white sugar comes from the stalks of sugarcane, which makes it vegetarian, but the mixing of this processed sugar with animal bone char to give a perfect white colour changes the entire game, which is why vegans around the world consider refined sugar to be a non-vegan food product. The commercial production in many parts of the world uses animal bone char to make the refined white sugar whiter. Let’s find out why it is done and are all types of sugar made with animal bone char?
03/6Why is animal bone char added?
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White sugar is the most widely used sugar variant in the world and the reason why this commercially prepared sugar is mixed with animal bone char is to make the sugar appear more white in colour and thick in texture.
04/6What is bone char? How is it used in sugar production?
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Bone char is also known as natural carbon, which is a product made from the bones of cattle. Bone char has tricalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate and carbon, which is used in several commercial processes as a filter. To make this bone char, animal’s bones are powdered and sold to sugar factories, which is further used during the process of making refined sugar. According to PETA's website, bone char is used in processing and refining of sugar as it works like a crude filter, a porous material which acts as a decolourising filter for sugarcane to get that perfect white colour and fine texture.
05/6Sugars that do not include bone char
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Finding commercially produced sugar with bone char may be tricky, but with the growing inclination towards vegan and healthy eating, there are several organic, raw, unrefined sugars that are made without adding bone char. Even the popular brown sugar is often mixed with bone char and the brown colour is achieved by mixing molasses to refined cane sugar. Most refined sugars have bone char and if you want to avoid the addition of bone char to the sugar then going for these unrefined alternatives is the best: Coconut sugar, Fruit sugar, Date sugar, Demerara sugar, Muscovado sugar to name a few. Apart from that to keep it simple you can also go for naturally occurring sugar alternatives like raw or organic honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, unsulfured molasses, dates syrup and brown rice syrup.
06/6Is Indian sugar refined with bone char?
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As per a report published by animal rights organisation Beauty Without Cruelty, "Sugar derived from sugarcane in most refineries of India is vegan. Filtration and declourisation techniques for cane sugar can involve either bone char, traditional granular / activated carbon (coal, wood, coconut), or the use of synthetic ion exchange resins. Manufacturers of cane sugar in India use the latter or sulphur dioxide." As per other available reports, the cane sugar that we consume in India, does not involve any non-veg ingredient in its processing, unlike in the US and other countries.
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