~~Adz:Left~~Basseterre, St. Kitts (October 31, 2006): The production of unrefined sugar is one means of sugar cane production that holds viable prospects for St. Kitts.
This is according to Walter Jaffe, Manager of Innovaciones Alimentarias INNOVAL of Venezuela who was recently on island investigating the mentioned product's possibilities in the Federation. He explained that the unrefined sugar is evaporated sugar cane juice, a type of brown sugar. It was described as being in a solid block form that can be used in many different ways. It can be used as a drink sweetener and in making candy, other confectionaries and the like.
Mr. Jaffe revealed that while the production of this type of sugar can be on a large scale it can also be done to a much smaller degree by a farmer with two or three assistants, working on 10 to 15 acres of cane land. He said that such a farm would produce approximately 200 kilos per day. Mr. Jaffe noted that this type of production uses very simple technology.
The unrefined sugar consultant said that minimal equipment is necessary. He said it requires a mill to extract the juice and stainless steel or copper equipment to clean, heat, evaporate and concentrate the juice. He added that these tools are mainly open pans.
~~Adz:Right~~Mr. Jaffe mentioned three of the benefits of using unrefined sugar, commencing with the fact that it is packed with nutrients. He said that because it is not refined, it contains nutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium. The consultant said that in refined sugar production these nutrients are removed in the form of molasses. He explained that is why he refers to the unrefined sugar as "functional food." The drink that his company produces "Click" uses the unrefined sugar as its sweetener, he said, and two bottles of this drink can supply ones daily requirement of iron.
The other two advantages were that the unrefined sugar is a natural product needing no additives, as well as the scale of production can be chosen depending on the needs of the country.
