Sugar Vegetarian Or Non-Vegetarian: Sugar is a thing without which our day is probably not complete—especially those of us Indians because in our country no festival can be complete without sweets. But do you know that this sugar which we eat with so much pleasure, the prasad made from it is offered in temples, is vegetarian or non-vegetarian? Today we will discuss this topic and clear your confusion about sugar.
Sugar is a thing without which our day is probably not complete—especially those of us Indians because in our country no festival can be complete without sweets. But do you know that this sugar which we eat with so much pleasure, the prasad made from it is offered in temples, is vegetarian or non-vegetarian? Now you will say what kind of question is this, sugar is made from sugarcane so obviously it is vegetarian, but if it is so then why is it considered non-vegan?
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Sugar Vegetarian Or Non-Vegetarian: How is sugar made?
Is Bonechar Used In Sugar: First of all, let’s talk about how sugar is made? As everyone knows that sugarcane is used to make sugar, the maximum production of which is in Uttar Pradesh. To convert sugarcane into sugar, first the juice of sugarcane is extracted. After this, this juice is put in large tanks and lime solution is added to it and it is heated, so that the impurities are separated. After this, the clarified juice is thickened by the evaporation process, so that it turns into syrup. Then this syrup is cooled and continuously rotated in the machine so that it turns into sugar crystals.
In this process till now the sugar remains veg, but its color is a bit muddy. Which we do not like. We want shining, absolutely white sugar. That is why refining process is used to make it white, which are of two types.
- The first is the bone char method
Sugar Vegetarian Or Non-Vegetarian: Sugar Veg Or Non Veg: So as its name suggests, bone char is a type of charcoal which is made from cow bones. This charcoal bleaches the sugar and makes it completely white. Now even though in this process the sugar only touches the bone char, it still does not remain completely vegetarian. The second process is of activated charcoal or sulfur dioxide.
- Activated charcoal or sulfur dioxide
This process is a bit expensive but in today’s time mostly sugar companies use it. But still bone char is used in some places.
How to know if it is veg or not?
So in India, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued guidelines for manufacturers, according to which if bone carbon has been used in the production of sugar, then it has to be written on the label. Apart from this, if the sugar is made from sugar beet instead of sugarcane, then it is not cleaned with bone char. Whereas if you want, you can use coconut sugar, fruit sugar, date sugar, etc.
