One of the oldest commercial applications of activated carbon has been decolorization of raw brown sugar or sugar syrup, dating back to the year 1794.

There are several impurities and colorants which are present in various forms of raw sugar derived from cane, beetroot, corn starch, etc. Some of these are naturally present in the plant or may develop during processing. Colour impurities such as caramel, polyphenols, melanoidins, hexose degradation products and such can be easily removed from raw sugar using activated carbon to afford white and purified form of sugar.

SpaceBlack Adsorbents makes high purity grades of powder activated carbon derived from wood charcoal and coal as well as granular activated carbon derived from coal and coconut shell charcoal to match the specific requirements of the sugar industry.