Brown Sugar or White Sugar ???

Myth or Fact: Brown sugar is healthier and more nutritious than white sugar

1. The difference between white sugar and brown sugar:

1.1 Physical differences

White sugar, also known as table sugar or sucrose is manufactured from sugar cane. When formed, it appears a little brown because of the presence of molasses. Sugar manufacturers will either refine the cane sugar or bleach the cane sugar to remove the molasses to give the sugar its white appearance.

Brown sugar is also a sucrose sugar product. However, it has a distinctive brown colour due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white sugar. The molasses content in brown sugar can range from 3.5% (light brown sugar) to 6.5% molasses (dark brown sugar) based on total volume.

1.2 Sensory differences

The difference in taste between white and brown sugar is actually the taste of molasses. Brown sugar contains a sweeter and richer taste as compared to white sugar. Since brown sugar is naturally moist from the hygroscopic nature of the molasses, the sugar grains tend to clump together, thus it is often labelled as "soft which is different from the dry and grainy texture of white sugar.

1.3 Functional differences

White sugar can be used in a wide variety of food and beverages and is an important ingredient for baking. When making baked products such as pies and cookies, white sugar may be substituted with brown sugar to give it a richer flavour. Brown sugar can alter the colour of the baked products greatly, and its moistness can affect their overall appearances.

1.4 Nutritional differences

Many people believed that brown sugar is more nutritious than white sugar. However, the truth is that it has only marginally different nutritional values. White sugar is actually 99.9% pure sucrose, while brown sugar is 97% sucrose, 2% water and 1% other substances. The molasses in brown sugar contains a number of minerals, which include calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron. However, these minerals are found in very small amounts in brown sugar and will not significantly increase the particular mineral intake for the person. In addition, a teaspoon of white sugar contains 16 kilocalories, whereas one teaspoon of brown sugar has 17 kilocalories, thus showing that the energy value that both sugars provide is similar.

2. Why do people have the misconception that brown sugar is better than white sugar?

The fact that people often assume that brown sugar is more nutritional than white sugar, might be because the brown version of certain kinds of food, such as bread, rice and pasta that are made of wholegrain are more beneficial to health that the white version. In addition, brown sugar is usually higher priced than white sugar. Consumers often misinterpret that more expensive product is better/ healthier/ more nutritious than the cheaper version.

3. Conclusion

I personally disagree that brown sugar is more nutritious/ healthier than white sugar. To me, when I choose between both types of sugar, I would consider their functional and sensory properties (e.g. to the baked product) more than nutritional properties.