Sugar Quarrels

[Pinny Nickels]

Beet sugar = vegan
Cane sugar = not vegan
But only because of the ways they're filtered...

Bothering to find out which kind of sugar is in everything you eat is quite a hassle... maybe even an extreme.

Vegans:
Do you bother with this? What's your opinion on it.  

[Banvivrie]

For my own baking and cooking, I do my best to use vegan sugars. Beyond that, I'm one of those people who don't think it's reasonable to fret over the source for the sugar in every single other product. If someone goes to the trouble to make a vegan dish for me but uses regular sugar, I'm hardly going to turn my nose up at their thoughtful gesture.

As a listener of the VeganFreak podcast, I remember they discussed this exact topic once and came to the conclusion that with store bought or pre-prepared foods, it's just not reasonable to know the source in every case.
From what I've heard, not even all white cane sugar is processed using bone char. If that's true, then without clear information on the packaging, how are people to know which is which? To expect a waiter or store employee to be able to specify seems like it'd be asking for a bit much, realistically.

I think the topic of sugar and sweeteners for vegans tends to be a bit gray, and differs from person to person. Maybe someday there will be more demand for clearly-labeled vegan (cane) sugar, but until then, things like this will be a hot topic for vegans.  

[Painful Passion]

Sugar is hard sometimes.
Cause you really never know. It is said most commercial sugars are refined with bone char. Big issue.

I only buy sugar that says "safe for vegans". Or is Vegan sugar. It does get to me greatly I feel bad about it. And try not to eat any sugar besides that listed as safe for vegans.

My mom says I am being ridiculous but eh~  

[Pinny Nickels]

Painful Passion

Sugar is hard sometimes.
Cause you really never know. It is said most commercial sugars are refined with bone char. Big issue.

I only buy sugar that says "safe for vegans". Or is Vegan sugar. It does get to me greatly I feel bad about it. And try not to eat any sugar besides that listed as safe for vegans.

My mom says I am being ridiculous but eh~

Yeah it's really difficult to go to that extent, but I respect your efforts.

@Banvivrie: Yeah I feel pretty much the same way... it would be nice if they made the differentiation, but with the way things are now it's way too difficult. (and I like to bake too razz ) However, I atleast appreciate that people find ways to use every part of the animal.  

[Naynram Ukir]

I buy sugar in the raw in a box sometimes very rarely. More often I go to my nearest QT and pick up some of their SITR sugar packets to stock up on when my mom goes in occasionally for coffee, which usually lasts a while since I hardly use any sugar at all.
All of it is vegan/unbleached.
For other normal packaged foods, if it just says sugar I don't worry too much anymore. I found worrying too much on a vegan diet was driving me mentally OCD. haha

 

[TrutherMei]

High Fructose Corn Syrup and sugar cane are really bad for you, HFCS even more so. Also stay far away from aspartame (it's way more dangerous than HFCS, always choose HFCS over it) and agave (it's not any better than HFCS)!

best alternative for a sweetener Yacon Syrup
http://www.rawganique.com/Food-organic-yacon-syrup.htm

next best is stevia. unfortunately the dried whole plant is illegal to sell as food in the USA but the extract is sold by companies like Truvia. or you can buy the plant or seeds to grow your own and dry out the leaves and crush them into powder.

the next best sweeteners are raw organic honey and real maple syrup.  

[Maxrb2321]

If you cant tell that the
product your eating does
vegan-friendly sugar what
do you do?
You cant
really tell with everything
and I heard that alot of
dark chocolates are vegan
but if it doesnt state it is it?
Do you always have to
buy vegan only just to
make sure?

 

[Sakakikala]

Personally, in my own cooking, I use raw vegan friendly sugar. If im buying something, like candy(IE fun dip or sour patch kids or twizzlers) i don''t worry about it. I find while its a very lame argument, that being paranoid about sugar will turn more people away from veganism than anything else. That said, if I have the option of buying a food w/added sugar that's labelled specifically as vegan, i'll buy it over something that's "accidentally" vegan.

As for the dark chocolate comment, (please use easier to read fonts! D smile you just gotta use your best judgement. At my local coffeeshop, they have a ton of "accidentally" vegan dark chocolate bars, which are also fair trade. Sure it may contain added sugar, but its better than butter, is it not? If you're a newbie vegan, just starting out, don't worry about the sugar thing, using sugar that MAY have been processed w/bone char is no different than buying a certified vegan product made in a facility that uses milk and has a chance of cross contamination.

That said, I'm not endorsing stuffing your face with junkfood! Eat that apple first!(or save room for it after, apples help naturally clean your teeth, ;3)