Refined Sugar - ICUMSA 150

Brazilian sugar manufacturer's ICUMSA 150 sugar is refined white sugar. Not quite as refined as ICUMSA 45 sugar, ICUMSA 150 sugar is still food grade and is often used by manufacturers making foodstuffs where the refining requirements for sugar are lower than those required for sugar sold directly to consumers. ICUMSA 150 sugar is in fact relatively highly refined sugar, especially when one considers that higher ICUMSA-rated sugars are available, up to ICUMSA 4600 or more, but due to high levels of contamination and bacteria, these are not suitable for human consumption. ICUMSA ( International Commission For Uniform Methods Of Sugar Analysis) Ratings are ratings standardized by the aforementioned international body that reflects how refined sugar is, and thereby allow Brazilian sugar suppliers to trade sugar across international borders with surety.

​

​

What does ICUMSA 150 Mean?

All sugar is tested according to how white it is, even brown sugar. Sugar is tested according to whiteness because the whiter sugar is, the more refining it has undergone, the less contaminants and chemicals are left in it, and subsequently the higher the quality it is. ICUMSA ratings are generally ‘reversed ratings’, meaning that the smaller the number is, the higher the quality of the sugar. This type of ICUMSA rating is known as the Brazilian SGS system, and it is the system under which we and most parts of the world trade sugar. In Europe this system is reversed, and ICUMSA 42 sugar actually refers to raw unrefined sugar. In order to simplify the sugar purchasing process, it is often simpler to ask for the Brazilian SGS rating of sugar.

But how does one know whether or not it is Brazil ICUMSA 45 sugar? How can this be verified? The ICUMSA ratings test is carried out with a piece of equipment called a colorimeter, which is a device that gives a reading based on the wavelengths of light a substance absorbs.

​

As has been mentioned, quality of sugar is determined by how white it is. If a substance is white, it means that it absorbs very few wavelengths of light at all. This is the way that color works. The color of a substance is actually a function of how well it absorbs different wavelengths of light. A dark red sweater, for example, absorbs all wavelengths of light apart from the dark red wavelengths, which are reflected back to to the eye, which in humans is a fairly sensitive colorimeter itself, being able to detect over 7,000,000 colors. Unfortunately, even though humans are very sensitive to color, we don’t give precise numerical readouts as to the nature of individual colors, and we are not all calibrated in the same fashion, so there can be no universal understanding of what is meant when someone says something is “very white”. This is where the colorimeter comes in, producing a replicable number that can be understood as representing fixed properties.

​

The ICUMSA ratings test is generally conducted with a tristimulus colorimeter, which takes readings across the visible spectrum of light. The visible spectrum of light is the light which human beings are able to see with our eyes, light with a higher frequency than can be detected by the human eye is known as ultra violet light, whereas light with a lower frequency than can be detected by the human eye is known as infra red light.

During testing, the sugar sample is inserted into the colorimeter and then various wavelengths of light are flashed at it. If little of the light is absorbed, then the sugar is of a high quality (the highest normally being around ICUMSA 45), and if much of it is absorbed, then the sugar is of a lower quality.

​

​

How Is ICUMSA 150 Sugar Created?

ICUMSA sugar can be extracted from either sugar beet or sugar cane controlled by the Brazilian sugar association. Whilst it is possible to tell which source a sugar has been extracted from with the use of certain chemical tests, for most purposes it makes little difference whether ICUMSA 150 was extracted from sugar beet or sugar cane. In the case of sugar cane, the sugar is extracted by grinding the cane up through a series of rollers. Because sugar cane contains both liquid and sugar, the sugary liquid comes rushing out and is taken away for processing.

​

Sugar beet is more of a complicated material to work with. Sugar beet must be thinly sliced and then placed inside a machine called a diffuser where hot water is passed over the slices for up to an hour. In much the same way that tea diffuses out of a tea bag and into the water in a tea cup, the sugar from the sliced beets diffuses into the water and is carried away for processing.

Now the sugar manufacturer has raw sugar juice to work with. This contains sugar, but also a great deal of water and contaminants. Raw sugar is produced by evaporating the water from the juice, a process which results in a very dark brown raw sugar product.

​

During refining, the first stage that the raw sugar goes through is called “affination”. In the affination stage, the raw sugar is mixed up with another heavy sugar syrup to stop the sugar crystals in the raw sugar from dissolving. This mix of raw sugar and heavy sugar syrup is called “magma” because it is so thick and heavy. The purpose of affination processing is to remove the molasses, the thick liquid layer which surrounds the sugar crystal. When the raw sugar and heavy sugar syrup have been mixed, they are then spun in a centrifugal chamber, which removes the liquid and leaves a mass made up largely of sugar crystals behind.

​

The sugar crystals are then washed and dissolved into a solution that is about 50% sugar and 50% liquid.

The next stage is either carbonation or phosphation, which process is used depends largely on the manufacturer’s preferences and the requirements of the market that the sugar is intended for. Carbonation is a process where milk of lime is added to the sugar juice, which causes small amounts of calcium carbonate (chalk) to form in the juice. As the chalk forms it absorbs non sugar contaminants, and is then subsequently removed from the juice by a process of sedimentation. Phosphation is a very similar process, but involves the use of phosphorous instead of calcium carbonate. This stage of the process can take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour, depending on how refined the final sugar product will be.

​

This is the stage of the refining process where the sugar is fine tuned, and undergoes several changes. First of all, the brown color that it retained up until this point is now leeched away, leaving the sugar white. Fructose and glucose present in the sugar are also destroyed, leaving only the sucrose compound behind. Contaminants are cleansed from the sugar, leaving it as pure as it is commercially possible for it to be.

​

When carbonation (or phosphating) is complete, the manufacturer is then left with a relatively pure sugar juice, which is taken away and boiled to remove excess water and to allow sugar crystals to begin to grow. Sugar dust may be added to the mix to get the sugar crystals started. Once the crystals have formed, they are then spun in a centrifugal device to remove the ‘mother liquor’, and to extract the sugar crystal material. These freshly made sugar crystals are then dried, packaged, and sold to purchasers around the world.

​

Product Specifications;

Cane Sugar                : ICUMSA 150

Origin                        : Brazil / Thailand

Color                         : Sparking White

Polarization at 20’C  : 99.70% Min

Ash Content             : 0.04% Max

Moisture                   : 0.04% Max

Reducing sugar         : 0.05% Max by Weight

Solubility                  : 100% dry and Free Flowing

Sediments                : None

Smell                         : Free of any Smell

Granulation               : Fine to Medium

Magnetic Particles    : 4 Mg/K SO2 70Mg/k

SO2 Content             : 20 Mg/Kg Min

Radiation                  : within international accepted limits

Crop                          : Current Crop

Sugar Icumsa 150 suppliers and prices

Brazilian sugar exporters supply Icumsa 150 either on high sea or from warehouse. Please contact us through the form below and let us know your detailed requirements. We will get back to you within a few hours