Where does half of our sugar come from?

Sugar beet is an important crop in the UK.  It is grown along with wheat and barley in rotation.  This means the crops will be grown in the same field but in turn, this helps keep the soil in the best condition for growing.  Sugar beet is good for this as it returns plant material into the ground and helps prevent disease.

The root of sugar beet has about 17% sugar and the crop provides about half of the sugar we use in the UK.  The rest of it comes from sugar cane which is grown in much warmer areas of the world.

Sugar beet seeds are planted between early March and the end of April in rows that are about 50cm wide.  They are about 18cm apart and go 3cm into the ground.  Nitrogen is a fertiliser that is added to the soil to help the plants grow.  Then other items are added to the soil to stop weeds growing when the plants are young.

The main area for growing sugar beet is the eastern side of England, from Yorkshire down to Essex and across to the West Midlands.  Some 8,500 farmers grow about 10 million tonnes of sugar beet.  This produces 1.4 million tonnes of sugar and 170,000 tonnes of animal feed.

The crop has been grown for hundreds of years for both humans and animals to eat.  But it was not until 1747 that a German scientist, called Andreas Marggraf, found a way to get sugar out of the beet so it could be used in cooking.

The sugar beet industry in the UK did not really start to grow quickly until the 1920s.  There were two reasons for this.  Firstly farmers needed to grow crops that they could sell for cash and secondly the country needed to be more self sufficient after the First World War (1914 -18). 

The top ten producers of sugar beet in the World, in 2005, are shown here with the figures in brackets being the number of million metric tonnes that they produce: France (29); Germany (25); USA (25); Russia (22); Ukraine (16); Turkey (14); Italy (12); Poland (11); UK (8); Spain (7).

The beet goes through a number of processes to produce sugar, they are:

Harvesting

The sugar beet is harvested between September and December.  It is important to pick the beet before the heavy frosts as frost damages the crop.  The top leaves of the sugar beet are cut off and either used to feed animals or are ploughed back into the ground to help the soil stay in good condition.  The roots are removed from the ground and cleaned before transportation to the factory between December and February.

Extraction

The beets are cut into thin strips so it is easier to remove the sugar and placed in hot water for about an hour.  The sugar from the beet is dissolved in the hot water and as the process continues the liquid gets stronger and stronger with more sugar dissolved in the water.

Pressing

The beets are very wet and still have sugar in them.  They are pressed together hard so that all the juice comes out and this is mixed with the other juices.  The pulp that remains goes off to be made into pellets that feed farm animals.

Carbonation

The juice that has been made in the extraction and pressing processes has to be cleaned up before it can be made into sugar.  This is known as carbonation.  It is done by growing small clumps of chalk in the juice.  As the clumps grow they take out the non sugars and one now has a very weak sugary liquid.  This is made into a syrup by boiling.  The water turns into steam and this can be used in the next stage.

Boiling

The sugary syrup is placed in huge pans where even more water is boiled off until the sugar crystals are ready to grow.  In the factory they often have to add some sugar dust to help the crystals grow.  Then the remaining liquid and crystals are spun at very fast speeds so the two items separate.  This is a bit like a spin dryer.  The crystals are then dried with hot air before they are packed.

The sugar is now white and ready for use.  This could be for soft drinks or in the kitchen.  As not all the sugar has come out from the liquid there is another product produced.  This is called molasses and is usually turned into cattle food.  The molasses made from sugar beet is a lower quality than the molasses made from cane sugar.  Cane sugar molasses is used to create Rum.

You need to be very careful how much sugar you eat as it can cause your teeth to rot.  This is why it is so important to clean your teeth properly after breakfast before you go to school and at the end of the day before you go to bed.

Date

1/11/2007