Sugar Producer

April 2020

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www.SugarProducer.com 21 www.ropanorthamerica.com info@ropanorthamerica.com Michigan Mike 1-810-705-0297 Idaho Kent 1-208-280-0079 Nebraska 21 st Century Equipment Minnesota Midwest Machinery Co. John Noorloos 1-519-339-6015 SERVICE North America Quality used machines available: 2010 - 2015 Tiger V8-4 and Tiger 5 20 - 22 - 24 - 28 - 30 inch heads Save time and maximize profi t 35 & 40 ton capacity 35 & 40 ton capacity BIG BEAR Award-winning 2374-2RopaNorthAmerica13s.indd 1 8/5/19 10:48 AM plant is what ends up in your pantry. Whether sugar comes from sugarbeets or sugarcane, the purification process is similar for each plant, and the result is the same pure sucrose. Myth: Sugar is hidden in food. Fact: For the past three decades, sugar has been found on the ingredient list of many foods and beverages. Now, the amount of all added sugars in products can be found on the nutrition facts label. Sugar is added to foods for good reason. Unless you cook a lot from scratch often, you may not be familiar with all of the functional roles that sugar plays in so many products. Sugar is so much more than the sweet taste we know so well. Myth: "Raw" sugar is healthier than table sugar. Fact: Your body handles sugar the same, regardless of what color it is. Raw sugars, brown sugars and any white sugars are all processed by the body in the same way. Darker-colored sugars are due to varied, yet small, amounts of molasses left on the sugar crystals. The nutrients that are contained in this amount of molasses are so small that they offer no real nutritional value. Myth: Sugar causes chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Fact: Excess calories from all food and beverages, including sugars, can lead to weight gain. This of course increases the risk of obesity and other chronic diseases; however, research does not indicate that there is a direct link between sugar intake and any of these conditions. Myth: Sugar is a high-glycemic food. Fact: Sugar has a moderate impact on blood glucose, similar to that of wheat bread. Glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how quickly the starches and sugars in a food or beverage are broken down to glucose and released into the bloodstream after a food or beverage is consumed. The GI of sugar is 65, falling in the "moderate" GI range of 59 to 69. Simply put, sugar ranks somewhere in the middle of carbohydrate foods when it comes to raising blood glucose. Myth: Sugar is toxic. Fact: There is no mystery as to what sugar is. Sugar is an abundant carbohydrate produced by plants and made up of units of glucose and fructose. Glucose is found in all plant foods, and fructose is most abundantly found in fruits. While too much of anything can have consequences, sugar (sucrose), whether intact in fruits and vegetables or in its popular extracted and crystallized form, has been safely incorporated in the diets of humans throughout all of time. Sugar is a sweet energy source that is safe, especially when enjoyed in moderation and as part of an overall balanced lifestyle. We know that consumers are the recipients of misinformation around sugar. For example, 72 percent of consumers believe that we consume twice as much sugar as we did a decade ago when, in fact, added sugars consumption has been on a downward trend for 20 years. Consistently pointing consumers to accurate information will hopefully shift the narrative to be more fact-based. As the scientific voice of the industry, the Sugar Association aims to put the science and facts into conversations around sugar. You can find a printable version of myths and facts along with other educational materials on our website, www.sugar.org. n Consistently pointing consumers to accurate information will hopefully shift the narrative to be more fact-based.

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