Examination of the marketing claim of Sugar in the Raw and whether it is a whole, unprocessed sweetener retaining all the minerals of raw cane juice.
If a food is labeled as “raw”, what exactly does that mean?
To a consumer like me, raw means that the food is completely unadulterated. It has not in any way changed from its original natural form.
In other words, nothing has been added, removed, or heated to a temperature that would change any of the inherent nutritional characteristics.
Unfortunately, to food manufacturers, the definition of “raw” can be quite different.
In fact, raw to Big Food can translate to highly processed, industrialized food!
I’ve written before about how most raw cheese at the store is not raw at all in reality! In addition, cold-pressed raw milk and cold-pressed juice are not actually fresh either.
Sugar in the Raw Marketing Ploy
Another fake raw food at the store that is fooling a whole lot of people is “Sugar in the Raw”. It is also known as turbinado sugar or natural cane sugar.
But what about the “Good Housekeeping” seal of approval that sometimes appears on the box?
Doesn’t that mean that the Sugar in the Raw product is legitimate and to be trusted in its labeling claims?
Apparently not. Here’s what the manufacturer of Sugar in the Raw has to say about its product:
Enjoy sweet moments naturally with Sugar In The Raw®, our all-natural Turbinado sugar grown in the tropics. The hearty, golden crystals are never bleached, so they keep the rich flavor and color of their natural molasses. So go on, stir it in or sprinkle it on. Bake and cook with it too. Whatever you do, just do it naturally with Sugar In The Raw®.
It seems that just because Sugar in the Raw is unbleached makes it raw.
Perhaps that is what the USDA allows when it comes to labeling sugar products.
To me, sugar that is truly raw means much more than just unbleached. It means that nothing has been removed or added as well.
The marketing of this product is so sneaky because it leads the consumer to believe that the natural molasses is intact.
And, for Sugar in the Raw, a small amount of the molasses is indeed intact because it is a darker color than white sugar.
The truth, however, is that MOST of the molasses HAS been stripped away.
Comparison to Sucanat
Check out the picture above which shows a bowl of Sugar in the Raw next to a bowl of sucanat.
Notice the dark brown color of sucanat which is truly unprocessed cane sugar with all minerals, nutrients and molasses intact.
The lighter color of Sugar in the Raw indicates that the manufacturer has removed much of the mineral content.
In other words, the much darker sucanat visually demonstrates that Sugar in the Raw is a fake food masquerading as real.
It is an adulterated product contrary to the sneaky claims by the manufacturer.
What is the Best Cane Sugar?
Looking for the best and most nutritious form of cane sugar for your homemade cookies and cakes?
Sucanat is it! It is the best alternative to white or brown sugar substituted 1:1 in all your recipes.
It is best to bypass Sugar in the Raw or other turbinado sugar brands.
Florida Crystals is another cane sugar brand missing most of the molasses, so beware!
Most White or Brown Sugar is GMO
Another HUGE problem to watch out for is that most white or brown sugar in North America is partially or totally beet sugar. This sweetener is nearly always GMO unless certified organic.
GMO beet sugar is visually and taste-wise completely indistinguishable from white cane sugar.
Is beet sugar healthy? While it may seem so because it comes from a vegetable, the truth is that it is not!
Sugar from sugar beets is nutritionless and contaminated with gut-destroying glyphosate residue. Nearly 100% of farmers growing it use Monsanto’s Roundup Ready sugar beets.
A package of sugar must specifically state that the sweetener is cane sugar or be certified organic, else it is almost certainly a mixture that is wholly or partially GMO beet sugar.
Even brown sugar commonly contains at least some white beet sugar mixed with cane sugar molasses. The molasses from sugar beets is not fit for consumption.
To get the real thing, look for sucanat or sugarcane jaggery. Both are simply dried cane sugar juice with all minerals intact.
Ancestral cultures in India enjoyed these sweeteners for thousands of years.
What is a Safe Level to Consume?
While sucanat is your best choice when trying to find a truly natural and unprocessed substitute for processed cane sugar, be careful not to overdo.
Eating too much sugar can lower immunity, even if natural and unprocessed, in a manner similar to white sugar or partially processed sweeteners like Sugar in the Raw.
In summary, it always pays big dividends to do a little checking before buying into any labeling claims.
Sugar in the Raw is just another clever marketing scheme designed to make money off of consumers who genuinely are trying to improve their diets but don’t have quite enough information to make a completely informed decision.
Where to Find Truly Unprocessed Natural Sweeteners
Need help identifying truly natural, unprocessed whole sweeteners?
Please visit my Shopping Guide for a vetted list of vendors I buy from who offer quality sucanat, jaggery, coconut sugar, raw honey, maple syrup, and other wholesome sweeteners.
Beware that popular “healthy” sweeteners like xylitol and other sugar alcohols as well as brown rice syrup used in many organic foods and baby formula are highly processed. This is why making homemade baby formula is a better choice than commercial brands.
FWIW, I like using Neem toothpaste from OrganixSouth.com.
Oh and…the farm is OWNED by Sally Fallon Morell. Thought that was pretty cool. I live in Maryland.
I just needed to share with you how extremely EXCITED I am!!!!!!! I only found your website because my husband wanted me to try to get into extreme couponing. Somehow your website came up while looking for organic coupons online. After subscribing to your newsletter, I found out my son probably has eczema. Its just a little patch on his face, not bad at all. But then I found info on The GAPS Diet. Even though his eczema isnt extreme I dont want it to turn into something worse down the road and I figured my gut could use some healing too. Then I ran into a lady randomly the other day while I was out shopping and through conversation she mentioned The Weston A Price Foundation and Body Ecology! Dr. McBride (the author of The GAPS Diet) did an interview which I had just seen a few days before that with the author of The Body Ecologyr! Funny how everything was coming full circle. The lady also had a little kefir culture and kombucha culture because I told her I wanted to try to make my own soon but didnt know where to start. She had instructions with it and everything! Talk about being at the right place at the right time! So today is my first attempt at making chicken stock. And I just got the fermented cod liver oil in the mail…to make matters sooooo much better…..I just found out that a farm only 10 minutes away from me is a member of The Weston A Price Foundation!!!!!! If my husband had never wanted me to coupon and I never came across your website…who knows! Lets just say that I LOVE when stuff works out like this and everything just happening so wonderfully lets me know this is the right thing for me and my family and I am just so grateful you take the time out to do what you do!
This is one of the very nicest posts I think I have ever read! This is really a lot like what happened to me , I wasn’t couponing , but my mind was ever open to the natural. So a friend posted one of Sarah’s posts on Facebook and as they say the rest is history! I have come a long long way since I first even heard of Sarah and The Weston A Price foundation ! Your excitment is wonderful . Keep on learning and doing. You are an inspiraton!
I love this too! I think a lot of us started out this way, stumbling upon it and it being a daily journey ever since! I read comments from people all the time who have ‘always done this’ or ‘always stayed away from that’ – not me, I did everything the media told me to! No natural intuition to stay away from antibiotics, chemical laden products, processed food. Margarine is best? Done! hahah, oh how far we’ve all come, its incredible, and now posts like this to continue the fine tuning 🙂 Definitely keep an open mind and stay excited 🙂 All the way from Australia xx
I was talking to a friend recently who used to live in Hawaii. We were talking about the vog and the smoke from sugar cane fields. He said there are literally hundreds of miles of what looks like pvc piping they use for irrigating the sugar cane. Before they harvest, they burn the fields using a vehicle spraying fuel (I’m assuming petroleum product of some kind) and then burning it – pvc piping right along with the sugar cane. I’ve read that cane sugar is better than beet sugar because so many of the sugar beets are now GMO. If you do use white sugar for your kombucha or water kefir, then consider how the sugar is processed and whether it is from canes or beets. Just a little more food for thought.
oooh Jennifer..I’ve recently had the urge to learn about natural toothpaste. I don’t know about placing clay in my mouth but I might since you’re pleased with this mixture. Is benodinite clay the same used for face masks?
oops..
I’ve read also,
1 tsp salt
and trace minerals, but I am really happy with my blend for now and I am (hopefully when I get time) going to do more reading on re-mineralizing the teeth and oil pulling and maybe more research on the other ingredients
I know the clay pulls toxins from the mouth, coconut oil (virgin) is anti-bacterial properties, as well as xytiol and peepermint 😉
For my toothpaste I have been using
2 Tbsp benodinite clay
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1-2 tsp xylitol
peppermint essential oil to taste and for anti-bacterial/bad breath fighting
I
Raw honey can be substituted for white sugar, ounce for ounce, up to one cup, in any recipe. After one cup, slight adjustments must be made for the liquid components, but still perfectly doable, without using any type of refined, processed products!
Hi Sarah,
I love your blog, it helps me tremendously. I can not access any of the links on your resource page:( Help
Thank you
Nicole
I should say that I am on a Mac and I can see the links, however I can not click on them and can not see any of the resources under them. I have thought there was nothing there and am now realizing it is just me.
I use sucanat, but I just purchased honey granules to use as white sugar. Honey granules is supposed to be sucanat with the molasses taken out and replaced with honey. What do you think about that?