REFINED SUGAR
The refined sugar may be obtained by a refining process of the dissolved crystal sugar by controlled crystallization.
PURITY
Due to the composition of 99.8% sucrose, its purity is high, and therefore, it does not interfere with the final taste of the products. In general, it has a shelf life of 2 years if stored properly
WHITE SUGAR
ICUMSA 45 is known as white sugar, easy to dissolve and more common. In the refinement, chemical additives are added to make the product white and more flavorful.
ICUMSA 45 Sugar from Brazil
- Icumsa : 45 RBU
- Polarization : 99.80% Min
- Ash content : 0.04% Max
- Moisture : 0.04% Max
- Solubility : 100% Free Flowing
- Radiation : Normal Certified
- Moisture : 0.04% Max
- Colour : Sparkling White
- Granulation : Fi
- 50 kg sacks
ICUMSA 45
What does it mean?
IC is a shortcut for ICUMSA. It is a worldwide body, which brings together the activities of the National Committees for Sugar Analysis in more than thirty member countries. It is solely concerned with analytic method standards, and the ICUMSA Methods Book contains detailed instructions for analyzing raw, cane, white, beet, molasses, plantation white and specialty sugars.
An ICUMSA rating is an international unit for expressing the purity of the sugar in solution, and is directly related to the color of the sugar. Be aware that there are different types of ICUMSA units. For Brazilian sugar, the lower the ICUMSA figure the whiter the sugar. However, this is not the case in the E.U. for some unknown reason, which has been the subject of much discussion.
SGS of Sao Paulo has published specifications for ICUMSA numbers for E.U. product which run contrary to the Brazilian specifications; for example, in Brazil SGS has an ICUMSA rating of 45 RBU for refined, indicating the highest quality, with other grades of lower quality (such as Special Extra Crystal) having a higher ICUMSA of 150 and so forth. This rating method is confirmed by the Institute of Sugar and Alcohol in Brazil.
Outside of Brazil, which, for some reason, uses an inverse scale, the lower the ICUMSA, number the more brilliant white the sugar. This is both a function of polarity (ICUMSA 45 has a polarity of 99.8 whereas ICUMSA 150 has one of 98.7) and ash content (ICUMSA 45 can not contain more than 0.08% ash).
The only sure method is to be first totally versed in sugar as a starting point and understanding these differences. Next, although many brokers use the term ‘RBU’ with reference to ICUMSA for Brazilian sugar, few understand its meaning.
RBU, as used in this sense, means “Reference Base Units”.
Before becoming the common white sugar most end-users use, sugar cane or beet have to be harvested, crushes and refined. The IC scale measures the level of sugar refining. The lower the indicator, the purer the sugar.
For example, IC 45 sugar is “top quality” and is the specification of white sugar futures on the LIFFE sugar futures exchange. IC 130 to 180 are called refined sugar crystals.
While color is the most important factor, IC is also defined by polarization, moisture, sulphateash content, granulation, solubility, radiation, smell and other criteria.
ICUMSA is established using a tool called a tristimulus colorimeter. This instrument fires light at varying wavelengths at the samples and notes, which are reflected, and which aren’t. Unrefined sugar starts at ICUMSA 1000 – most any light is swallowed by the dark sappy mix. The more chemical refinement is applied, the more light is reflected and less light is swallowed. If only 45 sample beams are swallowed the sugar is considered ICUMSA 45 and “pure”.
The lower the ICUMSA number the more chemicals were used to purify the sugar. This is why non-end user preparations (for made meals, cans, etc. in bulk) use IC150, which is much cheaper while the end-user won’t know the difference from taste.
