Sugar processing

Sugar processing begins with harvesting sugarcane or sugar beets, which are then cleaned and crushed to extract the juice. The juice is filtered to remove impurities and heated to evaporate water, resulting in a thick syrup. This syrup undergoes clarification and crystallization: it's further heated and seeded with tiny sugar crystals to promote the formation of larger crystals. The mixture is spun in centrifuges to separate the raw sugar crystals from the remaining liquid (molasses). The raw sugar may be refined further through washing and melting to produce the white, crystalline sugar used in cooking and baking.