Differences between brown sugar and panela sugar

Why buy Fairtrade brown sugar or panela?

At AlterNativa3, our raison d'être is the Fair Trade. But our commitment is not only to the production companies and cooperatives in many countries and the improvement of conditions in their communities. We are also committed to our end customers, who know that they are buying the best product without giving up their principles.

Sugar cane processing

In the case of sugar cane, once harvested:

• Shred and extract the juice.
• The juice obtained from milling the cane is filtered and clarified.
• It is then placed in a vacuum cooking tank in order to obtain the appropriate concentration.
• Finally, it is crystallised and the remaining water is extracted.

As is the case with all products of plant origin, the consumption of cane sugar will be healthier the less processed it is..

White or refined sugar

In the case of white sugar, the process continues in the refineries, where the sucrose crystals are dissolved, washed and re-crystallised.

In this process, "processing aids" are added to help achieve the desired whiteness. These substances are removed in the washing process and are not present in the final product, and if they cannot be completely removed, they would remain in a residual quantity permitted by law.

The multiple chemical processes that sugar cane juice undergoes to produce white sugar mean that fibre, proteins, vitamins and minerals are lost along the way, turning the intake of this product into a supply of empty calories.

Panela

Panela is the most integral cane sugar, as the sugar cane juice does not undergo any chemical processing.

The steps to obtain panela are as follows:

• The cane juice is left to evaporate so that it loses its water, thus turning it into a very thick syrup.
• When this syrup is left to dry, the raw sugar blocks are obtained.
• The last step is to grate these blocks to obtain the desired texture. This final product is called panela.

The characteristic of panela is that does not undergo a refining or centrifugation process. Panela sugar contains more nutrients than white sugar because, in addition to sucrose, it contains vitamins B and C and minerals, and its calorie content is somewhat lower than that of white sugar.

The colour of the panela, which can vary from light amber to dark brown, depends on the variety of cane used, the properties of the soil and the baking process. This colour does not determine its quality.

The somewhat sticky consistency and caramel taste of panela is due to the presence of sugar cane molasses.

Brown sugar

There are several types of brown sugar available on the market, but the real one is the one that is obtained after a single refining process.

It is useful to know that some products sold under the label "brown sugar" are sometimes just white sugar to which some dye or molasses has been added to give it that characteristic brown.

Natural brown sugar is produced from the first crystallisation of cane sugar. Its higher molasses content gives it a higher mineral content.

Some natural brown sugars have particular names and characteristics and are marketed under such names as turbinado, mascabado o demerara:

• Turbinado and demerara sugars are obtained by crystallisation of raw sugar juice, from which water and some impurities are removed by centrifugation.
• Mascabado is an unrefined, unrefined, uncentrifuged dark brown sugar with smaller crystals than the above. The sugar cane extract is heated to thicken it and evaporated in the sun, then crushed to produce a wet, unprocessed sugar that retains all its natural minerals.