Do most vegans not consume refined sugar?

Question

because i am vegan and i do. so does that mean im not vegan? i know bones are used to filter it or something... i need more information. also, i am confused about honey. i don't eat it but i don't really know why i don't eat it... haha i know that sounds stupid. but i need information.

Answer 1

Sugar comes from a plant. The only reason to avoid cane sugar would be the way it is harvested by exploited immigrants.

Honey comes from honey bees. They are animals and they also don't deserve special treatment when their are thousands of other species that can pollinate crops. Very few of them make honey so people think they are worthless.

If someone says that vegan people cannot eat white sugar because it was filtered or MAY have been filtered using bone char, they must also be paranoid about riding a bike or driving a car that has a tiny amount of rendered animal product in the tires, lubricant or whatever.

Animals do not suffer through h**l and then die a traumatic death for these trivial amounts of substances. I would never eat anything that contained gelatin, but no animals is born, suffers or is killed for gelatin or glycerin. These ingredients contribute to no suffering but no vegetarian or vegan person eats them.

http://www.veganoutreach.org/howvegan.ht...

Answer 2

Bone char filters are mainly phased out now on favour of centrifuges.

The problem with research and articles on the interenet is that they get copied and "undated" and you have no idea of thier source or age sometimes.

Tate and Lyle, one of the worlds largest refiners, stopped using them 5 years ago. i have it in writing from them - thier sugars are vegan.

The only sugars they explained that may have some animal ingredients, and this will suprise you, are some of thier raw brown sugars - these occassionally have a beef-derived colouring added if the sugar is too light in colour.

Thats a bit of a suprise as many vegnas think the raw brown sugars are the only safe ones, it turns out is opposite for some companies.

Answer 3

Like honey it is different from vegan to vegan. Most vegans I know do not consume refined sugar nor honey, etc. But there are a few I have come across that do. Since there are many alternatives to sugar then there is no need to consume it, unless it is already in the food. It is safe to say if you consume sugar you are still a vegan.

Sugar info:

http://www.vegan.org/FAQs/index.html#6

Honey info:

http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm

Answer 4

Most of the vegans I have known have HUGE sweet appetites and eat any kind of sweets that don't contain eggs or other animals products (not sure if they even know about the bone char--although probably these days there are alternative to "natural" bone used.  Honey is a bee by-product so if a vegan doesn't ingest milk, they also should not be doing honey--but many do.  I also see many who claim to be vegans wearing leather so I guess it's a personal interpretation of what being vegan actually is.

Answer 5

i've been a vegan for 4  years. i use this raw can sugar from trader joes, i don't know if that helps but yeah. anyway about honey...personally i don't eat it. i'm a very picky eater and it just grosses me out. bees like sh*t it out. ew. some vegans do, and some vegans don't. it's just a personal preference.

Answer 6

I do. Some may not because of bone char, but they use agave nectar.

Answer 7

Well vegans don't use it 'cause of the bone issue, I guess your not really vegan by definition then. And as for honey, the bees are smoked and crushed and what not. It's not good for them the way the honey is harvested, although they are small they are still a life. Google the process of producing honey.

Hope I helped.

Answer 8

About 50% of the refined cane sugar sold in the US is bone char filtered.  Which means, of course, that half of it is not.  C&H and Domino, the two largest brands, are bone char filtered, but it's possible to find brands that aren't.

There are also lots of vegan-friendly alternatives to refined cane sugar.  Beet sugar, which is actually more common in some parts of the country, is vegan-friendly.  Evaporated cane juice, which can be subbed 1:1 for regular granulated sugar is not bone char filtered, which you can see from it's pale blonde color.  If you see organic sugar on your rocery store shelves, check the ingredients; it's probably evaporated cane juice.  Raw sugar (like turbinado, which is sold under the name Sugar In The Raw) is vegan-friendly.  There are also alternative natural plant sweeteners like agave nectar, rice nectar and stevia.

Honey is not eaten by vegans because it's produced by bees.  Bees make honey to sustain the hive for the winter months.  When we take honey, we're taking their food and bees die in the process.

Answer 9

The bone of animals is used as charcoal to evaporate water to the sugarcane.

you're not a vegan if eat refined sugar.

Vegan or strict vegetarianism means not to hurt or to kill or even to use parts of dead animals and vegans avoid animal labor for human needs like food, clothing, entertainment, sports, etc.

Vegans are more concern to animal rights than their health.

In honey, I'm not sure if they kill the bees but I'm sure it needs animal labor.

And why are you using refined sugar? It is just refined, concentrated? It saves a lot of space?

Consuming refined sugar increases the risk of Diabetes and has less nutrients compare to brown sugar.

JUST USE BROWN SUGAR!!!

Answer 10

The "true vegans" would say you are not a vegan, but there is a lot of exaggerated and false info out there about bone char being used to refine sugar.  Many "vegans" will eat fried food in a restaurant that also deep fries animal products and uses the same knives to cut meat as their veggie sandwiches.

Sugar comes from both beet root and sugar cane and the process of refining is different for them.

Most brown sugar is made from white sugar that has had molasses added to it.  It is separated then reconsituted to get a consitant product.

What about eating produce from farms that use ground bone meal(calcium), egg shells, or other animal by-products for fertilizer?  You really can't avoid animal products in your food unless you grow your own or buy from a farmer that does vegan gardening.