https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/science/colombia-panela-patent-gonzalez.html Workers in the final stages of an artisanal panela-making cycle in Versalles, a town in Colombia’s Valle del Cauca. Colombians Ask: Who Would Dare Patent Panela? Makers of Latin America’s favorite traditional sweetener say a sugar engineer wants exclusive control of their centuries-old product. Workers in the final stages of an artisanal panela-making cycle in Versalles, a town in Colombia’s Valle del Cauca.Credit... Jan. 26, 2021 VALLE DEL CAUCA, Colombia — This past April, Jorge González Ulloa, a shareholder at one of Colombia’s largest sugar companies, was awarded U.S. Patent No. 10,632,167, which described a method for making an unrefined sugar containing high levels of policosanols, alcohols found in sugar cane wax that are purported to lower cholesterol.