History of Sugar

500 years ago, sugar was a rare spice or medicine, imported to Europe from India.

Then it became an expensive commodity primarily produced in overseas tropical colonies.

It later grew into a less-costly commodity produced and traded among countries, and finally became a cheap everyday commodity, produced from both sugarcane and sugar beets.

By about 1970, approximately 9% of all available food calories in the world, were in the form of sucrose. No other food in world history has had a comparable performance.

Sugars

Glucose (Dextrose, Grape Sugar, or Corn Sugar). Somewhat less sweet than cane sugar and is soluble in hot or cold water. It is found in sweet fruits such as grapes, berries, and oranges and in some vegetables such as sweet corn and carrots. It is prepared commercially as corn syrup.

Grapes

Fructose (Fruit Sugar). Highly soluble. It is much sweeter than cane sugar and is found in honey, ripe fruits, and some vegetables.

Honey

Sucrose The table sugar with which we are familiar and is found in cane or beet sugar, brown sugar, molasses, and maple sugar. Many fruits and some vegetables contain small amounts of sucrose.



Lactose (Milk Sugar). Produced by mammals and is the only carbohydrate of animal origin of significance in the diet. It is about one sixth as sweet as sucrose and dissolves poorly in cold water. The concentration of lactose in milk varies from 2 to 8 per cent, depending upon the species of animal.


Maltose (Malt Sugar). Does not occur to any appreciable extent in foods. Maltose is produced in the malting and fermentation of grains and is present in beer and malted breakfast cereals, it is also used as a source of carbohydrates for some infant formulas.