Bone Char (Sugar Refining) — Hidden Processing Agent — Is It Vegan?
Also known as: Bone black, Animal charcoal, Natural carbon filter
Not Vegan
This processing agent is derived from animals or their byproducts.
Not required on labels
Bone char is a processing aid, not an ingredient, and never appears on labels in any country. The sugar itself contains no animal residue — but the process uses animal bones.
Source
Produced by charring cattle bones at high temperature to create a porous carbon filter. Used in the sugar refining process to remove colour, impurities, and calcium from raw cane sugar juice.
Used In
Refined white cane sugar, icing sugar, some brown sugars (which are refined white sugar with added molasses). Used during processing, not present in the final product.
How to Avoid
Use beet sugar (always vegan — processed with ion-exchange resins), unrefined raw cane sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup, or agave. In the UK, Billington's and Silver Spoon (beet-based) are confirmed vegan. Contact sugar brands directly to ask about their filtration method.
Editorial Notes
The most significant hidden non-vegan processing agent in food. It affects primarily cane sugar from the USA and some Asian producers. UK and European sugar is predominantly beet-derived and does not use bone char. Organic cane sugar is not automatically bone-char free — organic only refers to farming practices, not processing.