We often take sugar for granted. The real benefits and value of sugar first as a food and, second as a many faceted ingredient, can very easily be overlooked. We therefore need to remind ourselves of the qualities of sugar, especially the enhancements it can provide for the products of the food and beverage industries worldwide.

Commonly speaking we think of either white sugar or brown sugar. There are other sugars than the sugar (brown or white) from sugarcane. While made from the same chemical building blocks, the blocks are laid differently for each sugar. Some of the different examples of sugar are lactose, which comes from milk; fructose with comes from fruit and the familiar sucrose which comes from sugar cane or sugar beet. The main difference in these sugars is the way in which they are made. While these sugars have different chemical structures, they, however, taste more or less the same (sweet).

The assertion that foods containing sugar might have an adverse effect on behaviour was first raised in 1922. This concept was further elaborated in 1947 by Randolph in his description of the tension fatigue syndrome. Sugar later appear in the 1970’s as a major offending agent when the lay literature provided considerable coverage to the condition called functional reactive hypoglycemia.

Can we do without added dietary sugar? We can! Sugar is not indispensable. The ultimate choice of what to include in the diet is up to the individual. That choice may be based on a number of factors, but any presumed health benefits should be proven by research and any changes should not cause harm.

In 1997 an interim report “Carbohydrates in Human Nutrition” of a joint FAO/WHO expert group was published. The report represented an authoritative, comprehensive exoneration of sugar for any adverse role in human health, after more than three decades of adverse publicity and furious attacks on sugar coming from nutritionists and the medical profession. The report fully recognized the important role played by sugar in human nutrition, providing energy and palatability, especially in developing countries, many of which suffer from malnutrition and under nourishment.