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White, Raw, Brown – Sugar: What are the Differences?

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Despite sugar being one of the most important and commonly used items in a kitchen, most people are not aware of the fact that apart from the white sugar they use, there are two other varieties of sugar, called raw sugar and brown sugar, available in the market. But what are the differences?

White sugar (also called table sugar)

Pure sucrose naturally found in many fruits and vegetables. In nature, it can be found in either sugar cane or sugar beets, but by the time it has been refined to a white crystal, the two are chemically identical.

Raw Sugar

To make sugar, machines are used: sugar cane (or sugar beet) is initially pressed and the juice is then mixed with lime to achieve the desired ph balance and to help settle out impurities. Reduction of this solution through evaporation produces a solid mass that is passed through centrifuge to get sugar crystals. It is then dried further to produce granules. This sugar is light brown in color and is termed raw sugar. The brown color of raw sugar is due to presence of molasses. Raw sugar is the most natural sugar you can hope to lay your hands on.

Brown Sugar

Do not confuse raw sugar with brown sugar. Brown sugar is simply refined white sugar with a molasses syrup mixed in, then dried again.

What is the difference between raw sugar and white sugar?

To make white sugar, sulfur dioxide is added to cane juice before it gets evaporated. This gas does the bleaching of the juice so that it does not turn brown and produces white sugar. At later stages, phosphoric acid, calcium hydroxide or carbon dioxide is added to absorb impurities. This juice is then filtered through a bed of carbon and then crystallized in a vacuum many times. Finally the crystals are left to dry on their own to get paper white crystals of sugar.

Is raw sugar better?

In my opinion: yes, although nutritionally speaking, there is no meaningful difference between any of these types of sugar. Why I think it’s better:

  • Environmentally speaking, the less processing required means the less energy used, less waste products and fewer chemicals: raw sugar is the more earth friendly option and brown sugar oddly enough is the worst choice.
  • As brown sugar contains some amount of water, it has a slightly lower caloric value by weight than white sugar: calorific value per teaspoon is 11 kcal for raw sugar, 16 kcal for white sugar.
  • Because of the presence of molasses in raw sugar, it has a distinct flavor that is missing in white sugar.
Although raw sugar is less processed, all types of sugar provide roughly the same number of calories, and when it comes to digestion and metabolism, your body cannot tell the difference. Excess intake of sugar can be bad for you no matter what kind you use. Too much sugar can be very calorific and cause many health problems (including diabetes and obesity).

What type of sugar do you use at home?

Comments

  1. Wow those stats are scary.

    I prefer to use unprocessed sweet foods where I can in my muffins, pancakes and so on. Maple syrup, agave syrup, dates or even banana or apple sauce are my staples. I’m also now using a blend of Stevia and Erythritol when I need extra sweetness.

    For the occasional special cake or pudding, I’ll just use whatever kind of sugar the recipe calls for (usually white or brown). If it’s not something we eat often, I’m not going to worry too much about it. Indulgences in small amounts are good for the soul. 🙂

    • Hi Natalie, thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. I actually don’t know much about coconut sugar, palm sugar, (don’t know what rapadura is, will look at it right now) etc. I guess these types of sugar are not widely use in France, hence I never come across them. But I’ll look into it, thanks for the tip.

  3. Oh no, I just lost my first long comment- bloody Blogger!!! Aaarrghhhh… but was just saying that I keep all types at home but use raw sugar more now and just whizz it in the Thermomix to make it finer before baking. I just added raw sugar to raspberry smoothies which I made for three little kids first breakfasts- they move ALL the time and none are overweight , far from it, so I am happy to give them sugar and sugary cakes etc.

    Not for me though!! The low fat milk and no-sugar smoothie is next for me.

    • Hi Seana, thanks for your comment and sorry to know you’re having so much troubles with blogger 🙁
      When I use raw sugar in baking I actually don’t notice a difference in terms of texture. Do you really need to make it finer?

  4. FANTASTIC post. I love learning about this stuff. I use raw sugar, don’t know WHY people use white sugar.

    I didn’t know that they had the same nutritional value though. So less is best!

    This definitely encourages me to have less when I can!

    Joelyne
    The Sydney Girl
    X

    • Yes Raw sugar have lots of benefits and it also tests sweet but it also hav some disadvantages based on its hardening and moist which can drop some recipes. So make use of it carefully you can keep it in airtight vessel to get rid of moistening and hardening.

  5. This is a very cool article. I prefer the less processed Raw sugar… One question – Does Raw sugar break down in the body like white sugar? i.e: Does the body break Raw sugar down into Glucose and Fructose. I guess I am asking for the chemical composition of Raw sugar. What I am trying to do is limit my intake of Fructose and this information would be great.

    Thanks.

    • Hi Geoffrey, thank you for your comment and sorry for the late response. My understanding is that yes, the chemical composition of raw sugar is the same as refined sugar. It is made from the same ingredient (generally from cane or beet). the only difference is that raw sugar is less processed (not bleached). So it is better for the environment and may retain more of the ‘original’ taste.

  6. Thanks for the article,I always used raw sugar as an excuse to add extra but now I have no excuse as all 3 types have the same number of calories,Lol.

  7. Hi,

    I liked lots this info. However, I have to say that actually THERE IS DIFFERENCE between the type of sugar we use. Because of the chemical process white sugar requires, the minerals, vitamins and other nutritional elements are taken away; and the resulting product when it is consumed by our body creates some acid remains that in order to be eliminated from our system takes the mineral reserves from our bones causing osteoporosis.

    So, if we want to take care of ourselves, we need to take this into account.

    Cheers,
    Joselyn G.

    • We did a science experiment in secondary school which was a test for simple sugar.
      We tested raw sugar and white sugar. The indicator used showed that raw sugar was
      a simple sugar and that white sugar wasn’t.
      All that can be easily derived from that is that a simple sugar is more easily digested
      and converted by our body chemistry, therefore doesn’t use as much energy in the process.
      I think this means that raw sugar is a better option for nutrition; and as it is more tasty, it’s a bonus.

  8. Hmmm..thanks so much for this eye opening information Cyndie..I had lived with the illusion that brown sugar was healthier..though I take honey..but my kids will not take honey so I just get d brown sugar beliving it is healthier..n I remember receiving a lecture a few years back from medical personnel that d brown sugar was harmless compared to white sugat.

  9. In the book “What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained” by Robert L Wolfe the author states that Domino Brown sugar is the ONLY brown sugar where molasses is not added. It is just less processed.

    Raw sugar to me tastes a little more like brown sugar. I’m not sure adding lime, Calcium Hydroxide is any better for you than the chemicals used to make white sugar. Also Raw sugar is substantially more expensive than white sugar and does not dissolve as well in a cup of tea or coffee.

    A last note: You can make brown sugar at home by adding a tablespoon of molasses to a cup of sugar and mixing it thoroughly. If you are making muffins etc. like I did this morning (Pumpkin Chocolate Chip) just put the two together in the wet mix.

  10. Why don’t you just tell everyone not to use white sugar because of the whitening process that is used. the chemical is called ADA or Azodicarbonamide. It is used in whitening sugar and flour, making vynil,foam plastic Capet underlay and much more. England n Europe have band it and the US is on their to the same. Subway has band it in their rolls.
    Check it out. You will be shocked.
    I do not use white sugar or four. I never did even before I knew about this because I always wondered how they got it so white. It is not natural

    • Hi Monica, thank you for the additional information. I didn’t know the name of the chemicals, I checked it out, very scary stuff. Unprocessed is always best.

  11. So raw sugar is better? Because brown stuff is made from white sugar and white sugar is the worst out of the lot…

    • Hi Vic, yes you are correct! Raw sugar is the best option in terms of nutritional quality and eco-friendliness but all sugars are equal for calories.

  13. Sugar is sugar as far as the body is concerned. It is all broken down to glucose which is used for ATP production in the cells, which are the energy molecules.
    The only way to improve nutrition is to consume sugar with some redeeming qualities, like raw honey with bee pollen and Royal jelly preserved, obtained from environmentally conscious and bee caring keepers, not from agribusiness that treats those little wonders like commodities to rob and kill and force into unnatural lifestyle, molasses loaded with mineral, etc. I suggest studying the process of sugar production, which I did, to understand that the whiter the sugar, more nutrients have been been extracted. All the minerals are in the brown stuff. So I do not pour molasses over white sugar, I just use molasses and honey in baking. I have learned to not use sugar in tea or coffee. And I am talking about daily lifetime habits, if I have a Turkish coffee with sugar once every few months, I do not think it matters

  14. does anyone know if you use raw sugar for dandelion wine if you should use less then you would if it were granulated sugar?

  15. Never knew the difference but now that i know i will be switching to raw sugar…why does the government even allow this stuff we need to do more to save our planet and eat things that are eco friendly. I guess they just dont care and its sad, but we do care and we can make a difference by avoiding those products that harm the environment maybe we can run them out of business! Awareness about it is all we need!

  16. After using refined white sugar for over 60 years, I constantly found myself adding more to obtain the taste I liked. I’ve also noticed it becoming smaller granules to powdery particles. I think the refining process is stealing more than we suspect from the raw sugar.
    Visiting family in Europe, they used raw medium brown crystals which tasted sweeter, thereby requiring less. It took longer to dissolve because of the crystal size, but tasted nice.
    Back home at Kroger and WalMart (and a few other stores), I found the same large crystal sugar, but I also discovered another raw, non-GMO, unrefined, light beige colored, smaller granule sugar imported from Mexico under the label Morena. This sugar dissolves very easily and I use even less than the brown crystals to get the sweetness I desire.
    I have moderate to severe antiphalactic reactions to High Fructose Corn Syrup, regardless how it is used, whether in drinks or cooked into foods. Other artificial sweeteners taste like chemicals to me. But I love my desserts, so my sugar is really important to me. I also use a lot of raw honey.
    Thanks for your forum.

  17. Just stumbled upon this article and I have a question. What recipes or uses is Sugar in the Raw best used for? I bought some recently and found it to be much different than I thought it would be. I had an idea of brown sugar for some reason, but that’s not correct. My wife uses white sugar in her coffee and we ran out and used the package of sugar in the raw I bought and she says she doesn’t like it at all. I ran out of brown sugar and used it as a replacement while making chocolate chip cookies and got a much different flavor obviously. So I have a large bag of sugar in the raw and have no idea what best I can use it for. Especially since the wife didn’t care for it in her coffee. Thanks.

    • Hi there, I use raw sugar in all of my recipes (I don’t buy white sugar). I personally don’t taste much of a difference, it’s a matter of getting used to it.

  18. Which type of sugar would be best to use for body sugar scrubs? Does it matter? Let’s say I am wanting to make a body sugar scrub that is naturally-based or natural. Which one would be best to use?

  19. Sadly few readers have actually looked into what “sugar” actually is, or that when you buy some it is one of the purest products you can get. Raw sugar is a primary product refined to make it white as people match white is clean and pure, then to sell it as another sugar they just brown it by adding back what was just removed (molassis). As for the rystal size – everyone loves them a consistent size so sift out the small crystals and dust. But that costs money so don’t and you get what you deserve.
    And for the so called “healthy” among us forget your vitamins and minerals – it’s simply too pure. So stick to a healthy natural wine or beer. Yes you too can be a vegetarian – they originate from vegetables after all !!!!!
    You and your body are designed to cope with almost everything in moderation. It’s simply the result of milions of years of evolution when we ate anything and everything. How nice to get back to those days – raw meat that hasn’t been in the fridge for days, and good river water that has run down from the hills and become vitalised with excrement. NICE!!!!
    .