Sugar goes back a long time. The Polynesians discovered that certain giant grass stalks contained a sweet tasting liquid. The Persians called it ‘the reed which gives honey without bees,’ and Alexander the Great adored it as the ‘sacred reed’.

Actually, all green plants produce sugars. The green chlorophyll substance uses photosynthesis combining carbon dioxide and water to produce sugar. The water comes from the soil via the plant’s roots while the carbon dioxide comes through tiny pores in the leaves. Plants produce sucrose, glucose and fructose that give fruit their sweet taste.

Sugar beet and sugar cane, however, are the only plants that produce and store sufficient sucrose to be harvested.

Sugar beets are harvested between September and December when the sugar level is at its highest. Timing is critical. A delay can be costly as sugar beets are easily damaged by frost.

In the tropics, hot sunny days combined with heavy seasonal rainfall provide ideal conditions for sugar cane growth. It takes 11 to 18 months for the cane to produce enough sugar to be harvested.

Sugar cane is similar to a bamboo stalk with a tough, shiny outer coating that protects the sweet, woody inner fiber. The sugar mill refining processes remove impurities and traces of molasses, leaving pure white sugar crystals.

Our body uses sugar to give us energy. Each taste bud on our tongue is activated when food molecules fit the shape of receptors on its surface, like a key fitting into a lock. The taste bud sends messages to the brain where they are decoded and registered as a ‘taste’.

Sweetness may be an indication that food is safe to eat; poisonous fruits and plants tend to be bitter. Plants use sugar rich nectar and fruit to attract insects, birds and animals which in turn help the plants reproduce. Bees seeking nectar from flower to flower also transfer pollen, causing fertilization for seed formation. When birds eat fruit, the seeds pass through their digestive systems intact and scatter around, growing into new plants.

Other sugars include caster sugar (finer than granulated and used for baking), preserving sugar (coarser than granulated used for jam and jelly), and brown sugar (for color and flavor). Syrups and treacle (for cooking and spreading) are liquid forms of sugar.

Sugar can also be a preservative: at the right concentration sugar helps stop microorganisms growing which prevents food spoilage, as in jam and preserves.

The Domino Effect
A dominant name in the food industry, Domino Sugar traces its roots to two Havemeyer brothers who came to the U.S. in the early 1800’s to manage a sugar refinery in downtown Manhattan, and then opened their own sugar house in 1807. Their business proved successful, and a Havemeyer descendant later became Mayor of NYC.

The sugar market changed, and refining processes were improved, mechanized and modernized. Once a luxury item for the wealthy sold only as a loaf, lump or piece, the demand for sugar rose with the development of its granulated form.

The Havemeyers moved their facility to Brooklyn to be closer to waterfront shipping. By 1870, 80-95% of all sugar consumed in the U.S. was refined between South 8th St and North 13th St near the Williamsburg waterfront.

A fire destroyed most of the refinery in 1882, but the Havemeyers rebuilt a plant that occupied five city blocks with a capacity of refining 1,200 tons of sugar daily. In 1898, their former warehouse became the site of the Williamsburg Bridge.

The Domino brand was registered in 1901, based on the popular domino shaped block of sugar they sold. A new refinery completed in New Orleans in 1909 had a daily melting capacity of 3 million pounds. The business changed hands several times, and today The Great American Sugar Co., marketed as Domino Sugar, operates refineries in New York, Maryland, Louisiana, and California.

Living up to a time honored reputation that now spans the centuries, the historic sugar company chose the leading, long established OK Kosher Certification agency to provide it with kosher endorsement.

Kosher certification for sugar is important all year round, especially during Passover, as unsupervised powdered sugar may contain corn starch or maltodextrin which may be forbidden chametz or kitniyos. Specialty sugars can have any additive, and brown sugar may have molasses or caramel color that may be corn based kitniyos.

The OK symbol prominently displayed near the famous Domino trademark assures the consumer that all is indeed kosher in this sugar.