Sweet Stuff: Not all Cane Sugar Processed Through Bone Char
By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
The Vegetarian Resource Group received an inquiry from a reader asking for a sugar update. She wanted to know if cane sugar is still mostly processed through cow bone char in the United States as it was when we last reported on it in 2007. See: www.vrg.org/journal/vj2007issue4/2007_issue4_sugar.php.
We asked the American Sugar Refining Group (ASR Group®), maker of C&H®, Domino®, and Florida Crystals® Sugar. The company had told us in 2013 that the cane sugar processed in two of their nine plants, in Yonkers, NY, and in Orlando, FL, was bone char-free. See: www.vrg.org/blog/2013/01/29/bone-char-free-sugar-from-florida-crystals%c2%ae-and-domino%c2%ae-sugar.
We wanted to know if this was still accurate, and if any other of their plants had converted to non-cow bone char methods of cane sugar decolorization in the last few years.
In July 2019, we emailed Domino these questions through their web contact form:
1. How much of your sugar is whitened through cow bone char?
2. Can I know how your sugar has been processed from your package codes?
Here is the response we received from Domino Foods. [Note that in this response, ASR Group refers to "bone char" as "animal-derived natural charcoal."]
"...At ASR, we utilize natural charcoal to remove the color and impurities from the sugar liquor at our Chalmette (LA) and Crockett (CA) refineries. Natural charcoal is not used for decolorization at our Baltimore (MD) and Yonkers (NY) refineries... The...refined sugar products manufactured from our process do not contain any actual impurity from the natural charcoal. We also market...Demerara Washed Raw Sugar and a certified organic sugar which are crystallized from pressed/filtered cane juice and not filtered via natural charcoal...."
In answer to follow-up questions, a Consumer Relation Specialist at Domino Foods said "...The production or lot code would determine which refinery our sugar is manufactured [in]. Baltimore's code starts with a 4 and Yonkers starts with a 1...The code numbers for Chalmette, LA, start with a 5, Crockett, CA starts with a 7. Our refinery in South Bay, FL starts with a 6, which also does not use bone char."
"C&H® Sugar from California is mostly in the West and some of the Midwest. Domino is largely in the East and Southeast. Florida Crystals® is South and East Coast."
Based on all of the responses above, The VRG has assembled information received by the American Sugar Refining Group in the following table:
| Plant Location | Production (Lot) Number | Cow BoneChar Used? | U.S.Regions WhereSold |
| Baltimore, MD | 4 | no | East, Southeast |
| Chalmette, LA | 5 | yes | - |
| Crockett, CA | 7 | yes | West, Midwest |
| South Bay, FL | 6 | no | South, East Coast |
| Yonkers, NY | 1 | no | - |
Interested readers can check our website for more updates on cow bone char decolorization in cane Sugar processing as we continue to survey major sugar companies. For information on other ingredients, see www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php.
Jeanne Yacoubou is the Research Director for The Vegetarian Resource Group. She is author of VRG's Guide to Food Ingredients.
