This is an article from Sunday inquirer magazine regarding muscovado, and am sharing this one here. Find why its called a healthy sweetener. :)
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Sunday Inquirer Magazine / Sunday Inq
Mag
http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20080525-138667/Why-Muscovado-is-a-Must-These-Days
FEATURE : Why
Muscovado is a Must These Days
By
Tina Arceo-Dumlao
Philippine
Daily Inquirer
Posted
date: May 25, 2008
MANILA, Philippines - Muscovado or raw sugar is an indelible part of the daily routine of Maricel Almojuela-Tolentino, a program officer of the Asian NGO Coalition. Tolentino puts about a teaspoon of muscovado in her coffee or tea and a little bit more to flavor her champorado. She swears that it provides that extra zing to her spaghetti sauce and can be relished alone with rice.
Three-year-old
Aya is following in her mother’s footsteps, having picked up the habit of
snacking on the dark brown muscovado granules.
Tolentino
says she prefers muscovado over refined white sugar because it does more than
just sweeten her food or drink. “It is nutritious, environmentally sound and
helps small farmers,” she declares, adding that she does not mind paying more
to indulge in this habit.
Ong and
Tolentino are just two of the growing number of Filipinos who now regularly
stock muscovado in their homes and offices.
Muscovado is
also just 80 percent sucrose, unlike white sugar which is almost pure sucrose,
that can wreak havoc on the body’s metabolism, according to Dr. Omar Arabia,
who owns the Blissful Belly vegetarian restaurant on Xavierville Avenue. Arabia
also notes that white sugar can deplete the body of many minerals it needs to
remain healthy and productive.
“So many
studies have also shown that refined white sugar can accelerate tumor growth.
Oncologists seem to agree on this,” adds Arabia,
who has been practicing natural medicine for the past 35 years.
Chef David
Pardo de Ayala, corporate chef for the Discovery group, likewise uses
muscovado, especially during the Christmas season, to make glazes and sauces.
Pardo de Ayala says he was inclined to find other uses for muscovado in his
renowned dishes served in Discovery Shores Boracay and Discovery Country Suites
in Tagaytay, as it is healthier than white sugar.
Muscovado was
one of the Philippines’ main export products in the 1800s, but its glory days
faded in the 1900s with the coming of the Americans and the introduction of
their modern sugar milling facilities to produce their preferred refined white
sugar. Thus, muscovado production was pushed back to where it came from—the
backyard.
The muscovado
industry, however, managed to survive in Antique, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Iloilo, Batangas, Negros Occidental, Bukidnon, Davao del
Sur, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato.
The foreign
market’s search for healthier food, fortunately, has put the spotlight back on
muscovado and export volume has consequently been increasing, particularly to Germany, Netherlands
and Japan.
These markets
are willing to pay as much as P250 a kilo for muscovado, over four times the
selling price in the Philippines
of about P60 a kilo. Refined white sugar, on the other hand, costs only P32 a
kilo as it has the benefit of economies of scale and an established production
and distribution network.
PDAP, through
its Promoting Rural Industries and Market Enhancement (PRIME) program, wants
the muscovado industry, especially the farmers, to have a taste of the same
benefits.
This is why
PDAP is involved in making the muscovado equipment more efficient and standardizing
production so that sugar farmers can ride on the growth of the industry. The
PDAP Prime program, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency,
likewise wants to connect the farmer groups directly with the markets here and
abroad so they can truly cash in on the burgeoning demand for this raw sugar.
The prospects
for muscovado are sweet, indeed.
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