SatisfaireBR

Icumsa - What It Means: What is the meaning of ICUMSA and what does it relate to? "To try to help, let us cite the following from the ICUMSA Manual: 1. "ICUMSA (International Commission on Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis) is a global body that brings together the activities of the National Sugar Analysis Committees in more than thirty member countries. Methods are recommended for provisional approval by ICUMSA at first instance. In fulfilling all the requirements of the Commission, the methods are recognized as official status. Methods that are proven to be useful and have found an established application, or that do not lend themselves to collaborative testing, are given a status of " 2. An ICUMSA classification is an international unit for expressing the purity of the sugar in solution and is directly related to the color of the sugar. Be aware that there are different types of ICUMSA units. For Brazilian sugar, the lower ICUMSA, the whiter the sugar. However, this is not the case in the U.S. For some unknown reason, it has been the subject of much discussion. SGS of São Paulo published specifications for ICUMSA numbers for U.S. Products that are contrary to Brazilian specifications; For example, in Brazil SGS has an ICUMSA rating of 45 rbb for refining, indicating the highest quality, with other grades of inferior quality (such as Extra Special Crystal) with ICUMSA greater than 150 and so on. This method of classification is confirmed by the Institute of Sugar and Alcohol in Brazil. However, SGS de São Paulo, in the same memorandum, lists ICUMSA 46 for the highest grade of the EU and ICUMSA 42 for U.S. which is opposite to Brazil. SGS itself in either Brazil or Switzerland is not much help in this area even if they have published the ad listing specifications and are supposedly the authority. When talking directly with ICUMSA, they refer to a third method that is totally different. How do you know what you are buying? The only safe method is to first be fully versed in sugar as a starting point and understand these differences. Then, although many brokers use the term 'rbu' with reference to ICUMSA for Brazilian sugar, few understand its meaning. RBU, as used in this sense, means "Reference Base Units". But what is referenced is the key. All major buyers such as Coca-Cola, etc. have their own reference for this purpose. If you do not have a reference or it is not acceptable for the reference provided by the refinery or SGS, then you would request ICUMSA sugar to be expressed in TU units or ICUMSA. Which brings one to the methods used by British Sugar Corporation. TU is strongly dependent on "gray dots", which are defined as "conductivity ashes,%, expressed to three decimal places" (British Sugar Corp., Central Laboratory, ICUMSA Headquarters). Further used to weigh TU is "reflectance degree color" and "Solution Color" or "Filtered Color" as referred to, which have equally confusing formulas such as "Gray Dots". So, as you see, this is not easily understood by the novice. The buyer is best protected by having an understanding of the method used by the provider to get the proper product that meets the proper specification. Country of origin specifications usually rule. These specifications are then detailed in the contract. Traders should note that the term "INCUMSA" with an "N" is not a valid commercial term for sugar. (Also, it's interesting to see offers that include the words "Grade A", which of course no sugar refinery or vendor uses!)