Saying NO to refined sugar
I wonder at what age do we really start monitoring our intake of sugar or more specifically “white” sugar. For me, it was gaining the ‘Freshman 15’ that really educated me about the evils of refined sugar; white sugar is so far chemically removed than its plant origin that what remains is just a harmful, processed derivative. As a student, I was so used to dishing out frozen meals, realising only too late when the weighing scale tipped. It also did not take me very long to understand that sugar is widely used as a preservative, hidden ever so slyly in processed and packaged foods. I remember my shock at discovering how unhealthy a tin of baked beans, previously thought innocuous, actually was. I started avoiding anything with a long shelf life and eventually switched to eating freshly prepared meals. Personally, I still adhere to avoiding refined sugar, always choosing to go for the good old jaggery or then, if at all, raw cane sugar that isn’t as processed as its white counterpart. Today, I am proud to state that barring one, at Bruijn we do not use refined sugar in any of our products. In fact, many of our dried fruit assortments glorify their own natural sugars, lending an intrinsically sweet flavour to the palette. It is what I seek personally that I try to educate others about as well through the brand. Today, I truly do go that extra mile to represent honest, natural goodness.
- Mandavi Kanchan, founder at Bruijn