Sugar beet molasses is the dark, viscous syrup remaining after sugar has been crystallized from beet juices: the uncrystallizable fraction rich in sucrose, minerals, betaine, and nitrogen compounds. Too bitter and salty for direct human food use in most markets, it is valuable as animal feed, as a fermentation substrate for yeast, alcohol, and citric acid production, and as a de-icing and dust-control agent. Its composition reflects everything the factory could not crystallize, and recovering value from it is part of the economics of beet-sugar manufacture.