Vegans be warned: some sugars may not be right for you.

Generally, vegans They do not eat any animal products. However, there are different levels of veganism. For example, some vegans do not eat figsbecause they know there may be wasps inside, trapped during the pollination process. Others, considering this a natural process in which man does not interfere, do not take this into account. And, interestingly, something similar happens with white table sugaras there are options that are not strictly vegan.

In fact, white sugar does not contain no animal ingredients. However, you can use components of this type in your prosecution. This effectively establishes two types of veganism. There are vegans who don’t feel the need to eliminate this food because it contains nothing prohibited in this final result. Others include it on the list of unsuitable foods because it has been in contact with dead animals anyway. Some, indeed, They don’t even know that.

Let’s take a look at why white sugar isn’t vegan, and note a few things along the way. alternatives that they are suitable for this type of diet.

Stages of producing white sugar

Regardless of its origin, the white table sugar we consume is always chemically identical because it consists of sucrose crystals. However, it can usually come from two different plants. In most cases this cane sugar and, in others, from sugar beet. Both require minimal initial work, requiring sanding to achieve the look we are accustomed to, heating and cooling. This is how sucrose crystals are obtained. The problem is that while sugar from sugar beets is naturally white, sugar from sugar cane has brown which may be unattractive to the consumer. Therefore, another step is added to its processing.

This involves filtering the sugar powder through something known as bone charcoal As the name suggests, it is obtained from animal bones that are discarded by the meat industry. These bones are heated at very high temperatures until porous black structuresimilar to charcoal. These pores can be used to allow sugar to pass through and purify it, giving it its characteristic white color.

The final white sugar contains no animal bones. But, logically, he was in contact with them. So it’s up to vegans to decide whether to take it or not.

Vegan Alternatives

Nowadays, some cane sugar companies have stopped using bone char in the refining process and replaced it with charcoal. granular carbon, which is obtained from plant materials.

If the cane sugar we consume has been refined in this way, the packaging will usually indicate that it is vegan product. But logically, this is not the only option if we follow a vegan diet. You can also take beet sugarnaturally white, brown sugarwhich has not undergone this purification process, panela or coconut sugarwhose name gives what it promises. It is obtained from coconut.

It’s important to note that while they appear to be more natural and less processed, none of these sugars are healthier. All of them consist of sucrose crystals, so they should be consumed only occasionally. But they can be a good option for vegans, so it’s important that they know the options and take them into account if they so choose. Once the right sugar is chosen, we can prepare a variety of delicious sweets to enjoy sweets from time to time that not only will not harm us, but may even be good for us.