Beet sugar is becoming more prevalent in the United States because the Federal government subsidises this industry. Almost all cane sugar refineries require the use of a specific filter to decolorise the sugar and absorb inorganic material from it. This whitening process occurs towards the end of the sugar refining procedure. The filter may be either bone char, granulated carbon, or an ion exchange system. Bones from cows are the only type used to make bone char.
Bone char is derived from the bones of cattle from Afghanistan, Argentina, India and Pakistan.
Bone is heated to an extremely high temperature, which results in a physical change in the bones composition. The bone becomes pure carbon before it is used in a refinery. Refined sugar does not contain any bone particles and is therefore kosher certified. The bone char simply removes impurities from the sugar, but does not become a part of the sugar. Individual pieces of bone char, like granular carbon, can be used for several years.