Maltose

Maltose, also called malt sugar, lends certain milk shakes and candies their characteristic malt taste. It is used primarily as a flavoring and coloring agent in the manufacture of beer. During the malting process, barley and other grains are treated to convert the grain’s starch to maltose. Read more »

Glucose

Glucose, also known as dextrose, is the basic building block of most carbohydrates and is the major sugar found in the blood. Chief plants sources of this monosaccharide are fruits, vegetables, honey and corn syrup. Glucose can be obtained from starch by commercially treating it with heat and acids or with enzymes. Food companies often use glucose, which is half as sweet as sucrose, in candies, beverages, baked goods, canned fruit, and fermented beverages. Read more »

Raw Sugar

Raw sugar comes only from sugar cane, not beets. It is not completely purified - only 97 to 99 percent pure - and contains natural contaminants such as soil, insect parts, yeast, molds, waxes, and lint. The sale of raw sugar to the public has been banned by the FDA because of these contaminants.

Turbinado Sugar

Turbinado sugar is raw sugar that has been centrifuged and purified with steam. It is sometimes labeled “raw sugar”, although it is not truly raw. Its granulated crystals have a light amber color. Read more »

Sucrose, or table sugar, is derived from either sugar cane or sugar beets. Sugar cane has been used as a source of sugar for centuries. It first grew in India, where it is still a major crop. Sugar beets are a more recent addition, a German scientist having first extracted sugar from this plant in 1794. Today, sugar cane provides about 60 percent of the sugar consumed in the United States; white sugar beets, a relative of the red beet commonly eaten as a vegetable, provide the rest. Read more »