The Sugar is the Same
It’s October 30 and you’ve just left the office for home, that familiar Friday afternoon freedom sweeping over you. On the drive home, you notice the neighborhood kids out decorating their porches with scarecrows and ghoulish creatures.
Suddenly it hits you. “Oh no, I forgot to buy candy to hand out for Halloween tomorrow!” You turn into the nearest supermarket and head in, determined to get a bulk bag or two of some sweet treats for the little neighborhood ghosts and witches. As you peruse the vast selection of candy on display, something is nagging at the back of your mind. Didn’t you hear something somewhere about genetically modified sugar being used in candy? How do you know which candy contains genetically modified sugar? What if the neighbors find out you’re passing out GM candy?
But before you have a panic attack in the candy aisle, you should be informed of a very important fact about GM sugar: it doesn’t exist.
“Sugar is not genetically engineered,” Garrett Kasper, Monsanto public affairs manager, said. “Whether from sugar cane or sugarbeets, sugar is sugar. Since all of the plant DNA and proteins are removed during sugar extraction and crystallization, it doesn’t matter if the plant source is organic or GMO. At the molecular level, the sugars are identical and equally safe.”
Campaigns against “GM” sugar have garnered attention in the media since Monsanto’s introduction of Genuity™ Roundup Ready® sugarbeets in 2008. Activist groups called for a boycott of companies such as Kelloggs and Hershey’s that may use sugar derived from Genuity™ Roundup Ready® sugarbeets in their products. But the truth is sugar is sugar—no matter where it comes from, the chemical composition is still the same: C12H22O11.
The Sugar Industry Biotech Council even has an entire Web site dedicated to clearing up the “GM sugar myth” called The Sugar is the Same. According to the site, “Independent scientific analyses conducted by internationally recognized laboratories showed that the sugar from Genuity™ Roundup Ready® sugarbeets, which are enhanced through biotechnology, is identical at the molecular level, to the sugar from other, comparably grown sugarbeets.”
So before you drive yourself crazy with the self-imposed moral dilemma of handing out candy made with “GM” sugar, stop, take a breath, and remember: the sugar is the same. Whether it comes from a conventional sugarbeet or one that’s Roundup Ready, the sugar used to make that delicious Halloween treat is identical.
Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. This product has been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Biotechnology Industry Organization. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides. Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Genuity™, Genuity and Design™, Genuity Icons, Roundup®, and Roundup Ready® are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC. ©2009 Monsanto Company.
How about candy corn? Is that GM? :)
I just had to ask!
P.S. Thanks for coming on my radio show!
Chicken Whisperer
I have used RR beets for deer food plots for the past couple of years and it works great. Now I see that the distributors of Monsanto's Buckgro have taken the product off of their sites. I read that a Judge has given in to these anti GM seed activist and ordered more research and a hearing Oct 30th possibly halting spring planting. Is there any new news regarding all of this?
Editor's Note:
On September 21, 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will have to complete an Environmental Impact Statement for Roundup Ready sugarbeets. Judge White’s decision has no immediate effect on growers producing biotech sugarbeets or on the processors. Genuity™ Roundup Ready® sugarbeet growers may harvest their crops and process them as usual. Learn More