ICUMSA 45 White Refined Sugar

​

Sugar is one of the soft commodities that is most widely traded and consumed in the world. There are different varieties of sugar and they are graded using different methods depending on where they are produced.

 

The most widely known grading system is ICUMSA which is an acronym for the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis. It is an internationally recognised regulatory body which sets the global standard for the quality control of sugar.

​

Several factors are taken into account in the grading of sugar such as colour, sucrose content (sweetness), grain size, moisture content and filterability. Of all the factors colour is the most important feature as it directly relates to purity. White sugar is considered to be the purest as it undergoes more refining processes and hence contains less chemicals and contaminants.

​

As a result, the ICUMSA test evaluates the purity of sugar mainly based on its colour. Typically, the lower the rating the more refined, and hence whiter, the sugar will be and the higher the purity. Based on these grading methods ICUMSA 45 is the highest grade of sugar that is most widely available worldwide.

​

India is the world's largest producer of sugar. However, due to the size of its population most of its production are for domestic consumption. Brazil is the second largest producer and the biggest exporter of sugar in the world, mainly ICUMSA 45.

​