Chromium in refined and unrefined sugars--possible nutritional implications in the etiology of cardiovascular diseases.

It has recently been discovered that chromium is an essential element, particularly in relation to carbohydrate metabolism. Food refinement leads to a loss of chromium as well as of other trace elements. The nutritional significance, particularly in relation to cardiovascular diseases, of the excessive consumption of refined food, poor in trace elements, is not well understood. The first results of a WHO study on the chromium content of different brands of refined and unrefined sugars obtained from various countries are described here. Flameless atomic absorption was used for chromium analysis. Molasses have the highest chromium content (0.266 mg/kg), followed by unrefined (0.162) and brown (0.064) sugars. Refined sugar has the lowest chromium content (0.020 mg/kg). No differences associated with the geographic origin of the sugars were observed.