Molasses are created during the refining of sugar cane and sugar beets.

After the juice is extracted it is boiled to a syrupy mixture from which sugar crystals are extracted. The brownish-black liquid that remains is molasses. The number of times the syrup is boiled determines the type of molasses: light, dark or blackstrap.

Light molasses comes from the first boiling of the sugar syrup. It is the lightest in both flavor and color and often used as a pancake and waffle syrup. Dark molasses comes from a second boiling which produces a darker, thicker and less sweet product. Blackstrap molasses comes from the third boiling. It's very thick, dark and somewhat bitter. Sorghum molasses is the syrup produced from the cereal grain sorghum.

While blackstrap molasses are rich in nutrients, they are high in sugar and presumed to rank high on the glycemic index.