A few months ago I discovered white sugar isn’t vegan and I was shocked…and grossed out…and a little pissed because I love some sugar, like REALLY love sugar.
Didn’t even cross my mind that my beloved sugar was involved with animals.
WHY ALL SUGAR ISN’T VEGAN
During processing, they use something called bone char (also known as natural carbon). Bone char is bones from animals that are slaughtered in foreign countries than those bones are sold to sugar companies. This is actually what turns the sugar white.
If a company uses bone char for their white sugar, their brown sugar will also be non-vegan because they used the refined white sugar then add molasses to make the brown sugar.
There are some sugars that are always vegan…coconut sugar and beet sugar to name a few.
Also, if the sugar says organic it will always be vegan because Certified U.S. Department of Agriculture organic sugar cannot be filtered through bone char. If it isn’t organic, read your labels carefully.
Lucky for us…there are a bunch of vegan sugars out there!! Here is a list…
The following companies DO NOT use bone-char filters:
- Big Tree Farms
- Billington’s
- Bob’s Red Mill
- Florida Crystals
- Imperial Sugar
- In the Raw
- Michigan Sugar Company
- Now Foods
- Rapunzel
- The Raw Cane
- Redpath
- Simply Balanced (Target’s brand of Organic Sugar)
- SuperValu
- Trader Joe’s
- Western Sugar Cooperative
- Wholesome! This is the one I use.
- Woodstock Farms
- Zulka
There are also plant-based vegan sweeteners out there. I think maple syrup is my favorite.
- Agave
- Bee Free Honee
- Brown Rice Syrup
- Date Syrup
- Maple Syrup
- Molasses
- Stevia (good for diabetics, as it has a zero glycemic index)
- Yacon Root Syrup