Frequently asked questions

Q How many tonnes of sugar does British Sugar produce each year?
A More than 1 million tonnes
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Q How many farmers grow sugar beet for British Sugar?
A Approximately 5,000
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Q When was the Silver Spoon brand launched?
A In 1977 the Silver Spoon brand was launched, the product becoming available throughout the UK for the first time. Target sales figures were broken within the first four weeks of the national launch.
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Q Is cane sugar sweeter than beet sugar?
A There is no significant difference between 'cane' or 'beet' sugar. Sugar or sucrose to give its proper name, is precisely the same wherever it comes from. The process of extracting sugar from sugar cane or sugar beet, is also very similar. In the case of beet, it is washed, sliced into strips and then the sugar extracted in hot water. The 'raw juice' is then purified to remove all the 'non-sugars' after which it is concentrated and crystallised. Cane differs from beet in that it is crushed rather than sliced before the sugar is extracted in hot water. The juice is then purified, concentrated and crystallised as before. Although this is an over-simplification of the process it illustrates why the end product in each case is practically identical.
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Q How are sugar cubes made?
A Dry granulated sugar passes along a special conveyor, water is sprayed onto the sugar and it is thoroughly mixed as it passes along the conveyor. The wet sugar contains about 1% water and is quite sticky at this stage.To make the cubes the moist sugar is pressed into rows of moulds which are arranged around the outside of a circular drum. As the drum rotates the wet cubes are pushed out onto a moving conveyor belt. This then moves along under a series of infra red drying lamps where the cubes are dried. This is all enclosed in a kind of tunnel often called the 'drying tunnel'.When the dry cubes emerge from the end of the drying tunnel they are picked up using matching rows of rubber suction cups, and placed into boxes and cartons. There is still a tiny amount of water left in the cubes so they are left for a few days to 'condition', to dry out thoroughly before final wrapping.
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Q When were cubes first thought of?
A Cubes were first reported to have been made by a Belgian in 1890 who made them by spreading dampened sugar into a large slab and sawing it into individual squares.
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Q Why is Caster sugar called caster?
A A 'caster' or (sometimes 'castor') was a small vessel with a perforated top, from which to 'cast' ground pepper, etc. fine grain sugar became known as caster sugar, so called because it was suitable for use in a caster.
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Q Why is some brown sugar called Demerara?
A A region of British Guiana became famous for a type of raw cane sugar. The region was Demerara County and the raw cane sugar, with moist yellow-brown crystals and familiar odour became known as Demerara sugar.
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Q Do we use any animal products to 'clean' the sugar. Therefore is it suitable for vegetarians and Vegans?
A No fish oil or anything of animal origin is used anywhere within the factory process, including dairy products. Therefore all of the Silver Spoon range is suitable for vegetarians. Sugar beet are washed, sliced into strips and then extracted with hot water. The 'raw juice' is purified to remove all the 'non-sugars' , mainly using natural substances such as lime and carbon dioxide. The juice is then concentrated and crystallised to give the finished product. Sugar is not bleached.All Silver Spoon branded white sugars will be 100% of beet origin. All Silver Spoon brown sugars, i.e.: Golden Granulated, Demerara and soft browns and Black Treacle contain small amounts of cane molasses. Dark Chocolate Treat product is free of dairy products. The Milk Chocolate variety contains real milk chocolate crumb and therefore is not suitable for Vegans. The All in One Royal Icing also contains pasteurised egg albumin.
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Q What is Muscovado sugar?
A 200 years ago the method of making raw sugar in the West Indies was a fairly crude affair. The cane juice was partially purified and then concentrated by slow evaporation in a series of large, open vessels. The liquor concentrate was poured into shallow wooden boxes called coolers where it formed into a soft mass of sugar crystals embedded in molasses. Finally the crystallised mass was transferred to casks where the excess molasses was slowly drained away through small holes bored into the bottom. After about three weeks the crystallised portion - raw sugar for refining - was packed for shipment. This class of raw sugar was known as 'muscovado'. It was very dark and sticky containing between 20 and 30% of molasses. The word muscovado was derived from the Spanish 'mascabado' "mas"= more, "acabado" = finished. So called from being more finished than when mixed with the molasses.Today muscovado sugar has come to mean a dark brown, moist sugar with a strong cane molasses taste and smell
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Q How many teaspoons of sugar do you get from one sugar beet?
A 30 teaspoons
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Q How much sugar/calories in one teaspoon?
A 4 grammes / only 16 calories - less than half the calories in fat
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Q How many kilo bags of sugar can be made from one hectare of sugar beet?
A 9 tonnes of sugar per hectare x 1,000. Therefore 9,000 kilo bags
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Q How many sugar beet does it take to make one kilo bag of sugar?
A About 8.
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Q How many sugar crystals in a teaspoon?
A The weight of an average sugar crystal is 0.2mg, one fifth of one thousandth of one gram (0.0002g!) Therefore in one teaspoon (about 4 grams) there would be 4 divided by 0.0002 sugar crystals which equals 20,000.
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Q How many grains of sugar in a 1kg packet?
A The weight of an average sugar crystal is 0.2mg, one fifth of one thousandth of one gram (0.0002g). Therefore in 1kg there will be around 5 million.
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Q How many grains of sugar in a full tanker?
A Sugar tankers hold about 20 tonnes, equivalent to 20,000 kg, therefore each tanker contains about 20,000 multiplied by 5 million - one hundred billion sugar grains
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Q Why can't I find a Sell By Date on sugar?
A As solid sugar is in itself a preservative and has a shelf life in excess of 18 months, it is not required by Government legislation, effective from June 1992, to carry an indication of minimum durability i.e. a "best before date".The code number on the product is a production code which provides us with full traceability of the product.
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Q What is in the smoke that is pumped out of your chimneys?
A The steam plume from the factory comes from our animal feed drying operations. After the sugar has been extracted molasses is mixed with the remaining wet vegetable material. This mixture is then dried in rotary dryers. Therefore the plume is predominantly made up of water vapour along with the normal by-products of any combustion process. This animal feed drying operation is subject to strict regulatory control.
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Q How much sugar beet does the Wissington sugar factory process?
A The factory can process around 17,000 tonnes of beet each day. In other words, the amount of sugar beet that can be grown on Old Trafford cricket ground in five minutes!
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