What Does ICUMSA Mean?
ICUMSA is an acronym for the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis. This is an international body which oversees the policies and works of national committees for sugar analysis in thirty countries in the interests of attaining and maintaining global standards for sugar analysis.
Works carried out by the member nations are headed by referees, and new methods are recommended to ICUMSA. If they pass muster, ICUMSA will accord a method official status. The method then becomes approved for use in all member nations.
ICUMSA ratings themselves are units which represent the purity of sugar. They are defined by colormetric analysis, as sugar purity can be accurately determined by color. Tristimulus colorimeters are most often used for the determination of ICUMSA ratings, these must be calibrated by an approved professional if their ratings are to be official.
Not all ICUMSA units are the same however. Brazilian ICUMSA ratings reflect a higher purity with lower numbers, however EU ICUMSA ratings reflect a higher purity with a higher number. The Brazilian ICUMSA ratings methodology is the more commonly used of the two in international sugar trading.
Under the Brazilian system of ICUMSA ratings, ICUMSA 45 sugar is the highest grade of sugar, being pure sparkling white in color, and as sugar becomes less refined, the ratings go higher and higher. Other common Brazilian ICUMSA ratings are ICUMSA 100, and ICUMSA 150, representing white sugar which is refined but does not have the high purity of ICUMSA 45. ICUMSA 800 is the highest rating approved for human consumption, however ICUMSA 800 is effectively raw sugar.
EU ICUMSA ratings are entirely different, with ICUMSA 42 being representative of raw sugar. Traders therefore need to verify whether ICUMSA ratings are being quoted according to the Brazilian or EU standards, as the two can easily be confused.
The term ‘RBU’ is often used in connection with ICUMSA ratings. ‘RBU’ refers to ‘reference base units’. ‘RBU’ can be a fairly meaningless expression if one is unsure as to the base units being referenced in the first place. Many major traders and buyers have their own particular base unit to which one needs to be privy in order for quoted numbers to make sense.
In addition to these methods of identifying the purity of sugar, the British also have their own system, TU Units. TU Units are based on Ash Points, Reflectance Grade Colour, Solution Color, and Filtered Colour. If one is planning to deal extensively with British traders and buyers, familiarizing oneself with TU units would be useful, but by and large a thorough understanding of ICUMSA ratings will be sufficient.
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