Philosophical Vegan Forum

Hi everyone. I have a question that's been concerning me for a while, and I thought posting it here could help me find some answers for it.

Some time ago I read up that in the process of refining some sugars, manufacturers use animal bones in the process.

Some of my questions include.

How true is that statement in modern sugar refining practices? Does it vary from place to place?

Which sugars does this apply to? Is it only white refined cane sugar, and brown sugar which is just basically refined sugar with molasses added? I'm quite sure a sweetener like agave nectar wouldn't be affected, but would beet sugar be affected? Also, what about high fructose corn syrup?

Is there a way for cane or other sugar to be refined into white sugar that doesn't use animal bones in the process of refining it? If so, how can I tell which products do and do not use animal products in the process?

Also, when looking at some ingredient labels I see "evaporated cane juice" marked on the list. Would that process of making a sweetener circumvent the possible need to use animal bones?

Should I cut out all processed sugar from my diet to be better safe than sorry?

Thanks, I'll also be checking other places to answer these questions too, but I hope by making this thread I and others can be informed on which sugars/products are a no go if you want to really be Vegan.

I would cut all REFINED sugar out of your diet it is terrible for you, it's goes through the same refinery process cocoa leaves and wheat go through to make cocaine and white bread, refined sugar is in the same class, it is just plain bad and the nutrition is leaked out of it!
I live in America idk how it is in other countries but;
Look for the "V" when buying sugar, most sugar companies that do not use bone char have smartened up to recent trends and are now labeling their sugar as certified vegan.
I live in Florida and luckily there is pure Florida cane sugar, I am sure they ship all over the country though. You've probably never smelt it but burning sugar cane smells so bad!

Personally I would avoid any highly mass produced sugar.

I think you can tell the bone char in sugar because it sticks out, you'll see all this sugar that looks the same and is kinda soft and then you'll see these bigger chunks kinda looks clearish whitish, and yup that is it .. I think, I've only seen it in highly processed refined sugar and I have to assume that it is the bone char...

Also I believe raw sugar contains molasses naturally and that the molasses is actually taken out through the refinery process...

Dream Sphere wrote: How true is that statement in modern sugar refining practices? Does it vary from place to place?

It's true, and it varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Also, it doesn't matter. Don't worry about it. There's bone and blood stuff in tons of things- the industry mostly tries to find ways to get rid of it. Some sugar is the least among many unavoidable tertiary animal by-products. Try to find vegan tires.

Dream Sphere wrote: Which sugars does this apply to? Is it only white refined cane sugar, and brown sugar which is just basically refined sugar with molasses added? I'm quite sure a sweetener like agave nectar wouldn't be affected, but would beet sugar be affected? Also, what about high fructose corn syrup?

I think it's just cane sugar, and only sometimes. But don't worry about it. It's not in the final product, and it's not really contributing to animal suffering.

Worry more about avoiding the main products. Worrying about all the little stuff will drive you nutty. And it makes veganism look too difficult.

Ever heard the expression, "Making the perfect the enemy of the good"?

See PETA's position here: http://www.peta.org/living/food/making- ... ucts-food/
With which I agree.

Dream Sphere wrote: Is there a way for cane or other sugar to be refined into white sugar that doesn't use animal bones in the process of refining it? If so, how can I tell which products do and do not use animal products in the process?

Yes. And No.

Dream Sphere wrote: Also, when looking at some ingredient labels I see "evaporated cane juice" marked on the list. Would that process of making a sweetener circumvent the possible need to use animal bones?

Yes. But don't worry about it. It's nutritionally the same. You should avoid eating sugar in general for other reasons. But don't worry if there's a little bit in something.

Dream Sphere wrote: Should I cut out all processed sugar from my diet to be better safe than sorry?

No, you should try to cut out ALL sugar to be healthy. Except fruit in extreme moderation. And sugar you use to feed yeast when making home made bread.
Or when making caramel, because I don't know how to do that with artificial sweeteners.

I also use sugar when cooking things for guests/other people, because some people think artificial sweeteners taste weird, so I cut back on them (sometimes you have to get used to them).

PrincessPeach wrote:I would cut all REFINED sugar out of your diet it is terrible for you, it's goes through the same refinery process cocoa leaves and wheat go through to make cocaine and white bread, refined sugar is in the same class, it is just plain bad and the nutrition is leaked out of it!

White flour isn't anywhere nearly as refined as white sugar, and not by remotely the same processes, it just has the bran of the wheat removed (the germ is also removed, but that's done in "whole wheat" flour too, to prevent spoiling), and sometimes it's bleached. It does not compare.
I don't know as much about cocaine; that's plausible.

But refinement is really irrelevant. Unrefined sugar is just as bad for you- they're all empty calories, contribute to tooth decay, and more.
Don't let the trace micrograms of "nutrients" in unrefined sugar fool you; they're nutritionally irrelevant. 99.9% sugar is pretty much the same as 99.99% sugar.

It's just a marketing gimmick that's trying to trick people into thinking sugar is healthy.

PrincessPeach wrote: I think you can tell the bone char in sugar because it sticks out, you'll see all this sugar that looks the same and is kinda soft and then you'll see these bigger chunks kinda looks clearish whitish, and yup that is it .. I think, I've only seen it in highly processed refined sugar and I have to assume that it is the bone char...

There's no bone char left in the sugar...

The sugar passes through bone char in its liquid state to remove impurities, it's crystallized later. There's no bone char in the actual product. Any chunks you see are chunks of sugar crystals that have gotten stuck together, or weren't ground up properly.

PrincessPeach wrote: Also I believe raw sugar contains molasses naturally and that the molasses is actually taken out through the refinery process...

Yes, but not enough to be nutritionally significant. Any crystallized sugar you buy is almost pure sugar.

Now Molasses is meaningfully nutritious- because it has been concentrated, and most of the sugar has been removed. I can recommend dark molasses.

brimstoneSalad wrote:

There's no bone char left in the sugar...

The sugar passes through bone char in its liquid state to remove impurities, it's crystallized later. There's no bone char in the actual product. Any chunks you see are chunks of sugar crystals that have gotten stuck together, or weren't ground up properly.

Well this makes me feel a bit better, I really thought for sure those where bone chards!

::phew::

PrincessPeach wrote: Well this makes me feel a bit better, I really thought for sure those where bone chards!

::phew::

That would be really gross! I don't think anybody would want to eat that sugar.

brimstoneSalad wrote:
That would be really gross! I don't think anybody would want to eat that sugar.

But people do eat the sugar unknowingly, I wish they wouls leave chunks behind, it would really gross people out and hopefully make a few think twice about their own animal consumption ... Oh if only..