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What is Sugar?
Where Does Sugar Come From?
Different Types of Sugar
The History of Sugar
Uses of Sugar
What is Sugar?
Sugar is the naturally occurring nutrient that makes food taste sweet. It is a carbohydrate along with starch. Carbohydrates are our main source of energy. Starch-rich foods include bread, rice, pasta, and potatoes, whereas sugars are found in fruit and vegetables, honey, jam and many soft drinks.
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Where Does Sugar Come From?
Half of the sugar we use in the UK comes from sugar beet that is mostly grown in the Eastern counties of England and the West Midlands. The other half comes from sugar cane grown in countries such as Jamaica, Barbados, Mauritius and Fiji.
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Different Types of Sugar
The most obvious difference between types of sugars used in the home is colour.
When sugar has been extracted from the juice of the beet or cane plant, a strong tasting black syrup (known as molasses) remains. When white sugar is made, the molasses are entirely removed, whereas brown sugars retain varying amounts of this natural syrup. The more molasses in brown sugar, the stickier the crystals, the darker the colour and the stronger the flavour. However, the presence of molasses does not change sugar's nutritional value.
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The History of Sugar
Over 2000 years ago in the Pacific Islands, the stalks of a plant were found to contain a sweet liquid. This plant is now known as sugar cane.
In the 17th century, another plant was found to contain sugar: sugar beet.
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Uses of Sugar
Sugar has many different uses:
- As a sweetener
- As a preservative
- As a bulking agent
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