Brown sugar is not to be confused with raw sugar, which is similar in color but merely unrefined sucrose. Brown sugar is made by coating crystals of sucrose with molasses. A small percentage of invert sugar may be present. Brown sugar is not usually made from sugar beet molasses because of the strong flavor.

Carmelized sugar is prepared by heating sugar without water until it turns brown. Water is added to create a syrup often used as a colouring agent.

Corn syrups are produced by breaking down corn starch with acid into mixtures of two glucose molecules and maltose into chemical chains. The starch in corn is made from long strings of glucose which can be broken down to produce a syrup mixture of various percentages of glucose and maltose. It is inexpensive and has replaced maple syrup in most commercial syrups as the main ingredient. It is also rapidly replacing sucrose as the sweetener in processed foods. Similar syrups are made from such other starchy foods as potatoes, rice, barley, and tapioca.

Granulated sugar is the final table-sugar product refined to 99.9% pure sucrose.

High fructose corn syrup is a major food additive used by manufacturers who want a sweeter syrup. They use an enzyme to convert some of the glucose in the corn syrup into fructose. High fructose corn syrup contains about 52-55% fructose, 42-43% glucose, and 3-5% of other sugars. While the use of table sugar has declined in recent years, the use of high fructose corn syrup has increased substantially.

Honey is a form of invert sugar with a 50-50 content of glucose and fructose. This varies, however, with some varieties containing more fructose and some containing a small percentage of sucrose. The colour and flavour of honey depends on the proportion of sugars and varies with nectar sources. Tupelo honey, produced in the southern US, contains more fructose and seldom granulates.

Invert sugar is comprised of two simple sugars. However, mixing them together is not the same as chemically combining them. Invert sugar is almost three times sweeter than sucrose and often used commercially in baked goods and candies to keep them from crystalizing.

Jaggary (jaggery, jagghery) is an unrefined crude brown sugar obtained from the sap of the East Indian jaggary palm. Consequently, it is also known as palm sugar. The sap of the palm is boiled and used as a sweetener in curries, especially vegetarian curries popular in India and Southeast Asia. It tastes somewhat like a slightly fermented dark brown sugar. Jaggary is usually shaped into balls or solid cakes.

Maple syrup is prepared from the sap of a specific maple tree (Acer saccharum) native to eastern North America. It contains naturally-occurring sucrose, glucose, and fructose. During the winter, starch is converted to sugar in the tree roots and then, in the spring, carried up the trunk before the buds open. At this time, the sap contains 4-10% sugar. The sap is collected from plugs inserted into the tree that allow the sap to pour into a hanging pail. The collected sap is boiled down, producing its characteristic flavour. The Canadian province of Quebec remains the major North American producer of maple syrup. Commercial maple syrup is often a blend of maple syrup and other less expensive syrups. It can also contain lead if the sap was collected in metal containers with soldered seams rather than stainless steel pails.

Powdered sugar is finely ground crystals of sucrose and is also known as confectioner’s sugar. It is usually packaged with cornstarch to prevent caking.

Raw sugar contains 96% sucrose obtained from either sugar cane or sugar beets. The remaining sugar after crystallization is called molasses, which is roughly equal parts of sucrose and invert sugar. A crude molasses can be recrystallized to remove more sugar. The remaining syrup is blackstrap molasses that contains iron and chromium. Most of the molasses produced in the US is used for animal feed, yeast production, and fermentaion. Repeated crystallizaton and decolourization of molasses results in the sucrose known as table sugar.

Turbinado sugar is partially refined sugar resembling raw sugar with large, coarse granules. It is roughly 95% pure sucrose and is no more natural than table sugar since it has gone through most of the refining steps.