By Laura Madonna

Whether from cane stalk or sugar beet root, the sugar is separated from the rest of plant in the refining process.

Sugar Cane
1. Grind the cane to extract the juice

2. Boil the juice until the syrup thickens and crystallizes

3. Spin the crystals in a centrifuge to produce raw sugar

4. Ship the raw sugar to a refinery where it is:

5. Washed and filtered to remove the last remaining plant materials and color

6. Crystallized, dried and packaged.

Sugar Beets
The beets are washed, sliced and soaked in hot water to remove the sugar-containing juice. The juice is purified, filtered, concentrated and dried similar to sugar cane processing.

Source: SAI

 

 

Other Great Links:
Kinds of Sugar
Refined Sugar Processing Steps

Florida Crystals - http://www.floridacrystals.com