Group K SUGAR. By: Jessica, Raylene and Kayla Task 2!

What are the top five producing nations of your resource? The top five producing nations of sugar are: 1. Brazil produces 38.745 million metric tons

2. India produces 26.000 million metric tons

3. China produces 11.475 million metric tons

4. Thailand produces 10.061 million metric tons

5. U.S. produces 7.210 million metric tons

Explain the extraction/harvesting process involved in preparing this resource for manufacturing. The harvesting process involved in preparing sugar starts with sugar beets and sugar canes. It is sliced or shredded and boiled to separate the sugar from the rest of the plant. The boiling sugary liquid is filtered, and thickened in brown syrup. The brown color comes from high molasses content. The syrup is cooled down slightly before it is spun in a centrifuge (a large basket spinning rapidly, like a washing machine in the spin cycle) where most of the molasses is spun away. When it is finished hot water is sprayed over the light brown crystals to remove the remaining molasses, being left with pure naturally white crystals. Once the final fading and drying process is completed, screens separate the different sized sugar crystals. The crystals are packaged and shipped and then labeled as white, refined sugar. To what extent is the environment being effected? The environment is being affected hugely by sugar production! Sugar production takes effect on the soil, water and air. Sugar is responsible for the loss in variety of life in the world due to its destruction of habitat, its heavy use of chemicals, and the polluted wastewater that is discharged in the sugar production process. An example of environmental destruction by the sugar industry is the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. Water that surrounds the reef suffers from large quantities of pesticides from sugar farms. The reef itself is threatened by the clearing of land, which has destroyed the wetlands. Do you agree with the methods being used? Yes, we agree with the methods being used because the way they produce the sugar is very effective and the stores sell A LOT of it. Also because no humans are being harmed by the methods being used to make it, and the sugar production is very successful, it is in almost everything. The methods do not have a huge impact on anything, and we agree with the methods because it is produced in all of the rich countries and if the sugar is taken away the countries will not be poor. Our 2 questions that we made up are the following: How are sugar (H12C22O11) and sucrose (C12H22O11) related? Sugar and sucrose are related because REFINED white sugar is 99.9% sucrose! White sugar is PURE sucrose containing no preservatives and additives. What are added sugars? Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages during processing or preparation. They do not include naturally occurring sugars such as sugar found in milk and fruits. Added sugars include natural sugars such as white sugar, brown sugar and honey.