# My dark brown sugar is DYED! Is dark brown/light brown really different? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2004, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dark-brown-sugar-is-dyed-is-dark-brown-light-brown-really-different/242463 "2004-04-28T11:51:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dark-brown-sugar-is-dyed-is-dark-brown-light-brown-really-different/242463/1 "2004-04-28T11:51:13Z")
I was VERY shocked to discover that the ingredients list on my box of dark brown Domino sugar included… “cane caramel coloring”. Is there really a difference between dark brown sugar and light brown sugar besides the amount of dye? I think I’m going to be sick… sick like the time I discovered that the only difference between “wheat” bread and white bread was the brown dye. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dark-brown-sugar-is-dyed-is-dark-brown-light-brown-really-different/242463/2 "2004-04-28T11:58:52Z")
Dark brown sugar has, or is supposed to have , a more-pronounced molasses-y flavor,as opposed to the more anemic looking light brown sugar. It’s really just white sugar with a bit of molasses and caramel coloring added. That’s what gives it the wet sand texture, and the fragrance we experience when the sugar is finally,truly caramelized during baking. Caramel is just browned sugar, that is cooked to various temperatures to produce a certain color and change its texture. The higher the temperature to which it’s cooked the darker and less sweet it becomes. Not to worry. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dark-brown-sugar-is-dyed-is-dark-brown-light-brown-really-different/242463/3 "2004-04-28T12:14:17Z")
Some kinds of ‘brown’ sugar are just refined white sugar crystals coated with molasses. However, some are not; look for ‘raw cane’ sugar and you’re getting brown sugar that _always was_ brown in colour because it hasn’t been refined so much. ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dark-brown-sugar-is-dyed-is-dark-brown-light-brown-really-different/242463/4 "2004-04-28T12:15:03Z")
Thanks! Thought yet another of my perceptions was about to be shattered by the food chemical industry. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dark-brown-sugar-is-dyed-is-dark-brown-light-brown-really-different/242463/5 "2004-04-28T12:50:47Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > However, some are not; look for ‘raw cane’ sugar and you’re getting brown sugar that _always was_ brown in colour because it hasn’t been refined so much. Just a warning: don’t try to substitute ‘raw cane sugar’ for ‘brown sugar’ in recipes. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dark-brown-sugar-is-dyed-is-dark-brown-light-brown-really-different/242463/6 "2004-04-28T12:56:46Z")
Right, like the coloring matters, when all brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses mixed back in anyway. Brown sugar is not the same as ‘raw’ or ‘unrefined’ or whatever other kinds of less-processed sugar you can find. Anything that says ‘brown sugar’ on it is just white sugar+ molasses. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dark-brown-sugar-is-dyed-is-dark-brown-light-brown-really-different/242463/7 "2004-04-28T13:16:02Z")
Erm, isn’t molasses the extracts of sugar when it is refined? Doesn’t that make brown sugar…white sugar with the extracts put back in it? _scratches head confusedly_ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dark-brown-sugar-is-dyed-is-dark-brown-light-brown-really-different/242463/8 "2004-04-28T13:18:49Z")
If the word ‘unrefined’ appears on the pack, then you are getting something that is definitely not just white sugar plus colouring - Demerara and Muscovado are (or should be) two examples of sugar products that are naturally brown in colour. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dark-brown-sugar-is-dyed-is-dark-brown-light-brown-really-different/242463/9 "2004-04-28T13:21:14Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > Erm, isn’t molasses the extracts of sugar when it is refined? Doesn’t that make brown sugar…white sugar with the extracts put back in it? > > _scratches head confusedly_ Pretty much, but molasses and refined white sugar aren’t necessarily the only two products of the process (other stuff is filtered/skimmed off along the way, so adding the molasses back to the white sugar doesn’t make it the same as something that has been through less refining stages.