Is granulated sugar the same as cane sugar

White table sugar comes from either sugarcane or sugar beets and is usually sold without its plant source clearly identified. This is because—chemically speaking—the two products are identical. Refined table sugar is pure, crystallized sucrose, much in the same way that pure salt is simply sodium chloride. Sucrose is found naturally in honey, dates, and sugar maple sap, but it is most concentrated in sugarcane and sugar beets. The refining process renders the original plant irrelevant as the sucrose is completely extracted from the plant that produced it.

However, distinguishing between cane and beet sugar is not completely a marketing ploy and is fairly common on sugars sold in health food stores. In order to make sugarcane crystals pure white, the sugar is usually processed with bone char; beet sugar does not require this step. Although the final sugarcane product does not have bone in it, this distinction is important to many vegans and other vegetarians who seek to minimize animal suffering.

Additionally, many bakers and pastry chefs claim there is a difference between brown sugars made from sugarcane and those of sugar beets. The molasses that colors brown sugar comes from sugarcane processing and is not a high-grade product of sugar beets. Thus, brown sugar made from sugar beets has sugarcane molasses added. Although the industry maintains that they are identical products, many chefs use only brown sugar made from sugarcane, maintaining that brown beet sugar negatively affects their products. Although some assert that the difference lies in the trace minerals from the two plants, it is more likely that there is a moisture difference that may affect baked goods and other desserts.