Sugar - What Is Sugar?

Sugar is a crystalline carbohydrate substance that is found in a wide variety of edible forms. Fructose, sucrose and lactose are all sugars. They differ only from their source of collection. Sucrose is sourced from plant life, lactose is sourced mainly from milk and finally, fructose is sourced mainly from fruits.

Interestingly enough, there was a time when the vast majority of the world did not have access to harvested sugar. For example, Europeans only discovered sugar during the Holy Crusades aroud about the 11th century AD. Back then however, sugar was regarded as a luxury item that only the wealthy could afford. By the 18th century, Britain was producing sugar en masse, with a recorded amount of 30,000 tons per year. What was once limited only the social elite in the past, is now openly available to people from all financial classes. This is mainly because in many countries, sugar prices are controlled.

There are many types of sugar available to the general public today. And the vast majority of it come from two main sources. Sugar cane and sugar beets. Sugar cane used to be the dominant cash crop between the two. However, in some countries such as America, sugar beets have slowly been replacing sugar cane as a source of sugar. This is mainly because of cost. Sugar beets require only a single refining process while sugar cane requires two. Despite this, it is generally thought that sugar cane yeilds sugar that is superior in taste.

Brazil is the worlds leading producer of sugar, followed by India and the European Union. Together, all three produced up to 40% of the worlds sugar. South East Asia's richest man, Robert Kuok is dubbed the sugar king as he invested heavily in sugar refineries all across Malaysia. It was thought that he owned up to 80% of Malaysia's sugar production in the 1970's. Sugar consumption in Malaysia has seen never-ending growth due to the vast majority of products that use sugar such as ice creams, candies and chocolates. Artificial sweeteners haven't really made a large impact in the country as most of us here prefer the real thing.