SUNDAY September 16, 2007 (Foodconsumer.org) -- American Crystal, a large Wyoming based company, and several other sugar companies have said they will be sourcing their sugar from genetically engineered (GE) sugar beets and put the GE on the market in 2008, Organic Consumers Association said in its weekly newsletter released September 10.

The GE sugar will not be labeled in any way that consumers would know the sugar actually contains GE sugar just like soy and corn products that contain GE ingredients are not labeled as such, the consumer organization that advocates for sustainable agriculture and organic production.

The GE sugar beet is designed to withdraw heavy use of Monsanto's controversial broad spectrum Roundup herbicide.   Often, a crop that resists to herbicides is likely to get more spraying of herbicides, early studies showed.  Farmers planting GE sugar are told they may use five times more herbicides for GE sugar beets.   In the U.S., 12,000 farmers grow sugar beets on 1.4 million acres in various states.

Roundup is toxic.   Previous studies have concluded that "there were some risks to aquatic organisms exposed to Roundup in shallow water. More recent research indicates glyphosate induces a variety of functional abnormalities in fetuses and pregnant rats. Also in recent mammalian research, glyphosate has been found to interfere with an enzyme involved testosterone production in mouse cell culture and to interfere with an estrogen biosynthesis enzyme in cultures of Human Placental cells," according to wikipedia.   Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup.

When American Cristal gets on its way to put the GE sugar on the American market, 50 percent of sugar can be genetically modified as half of the sugar market is full of sugar made from beets, the Organic Consumers Organization said.

Hershey's and other candy makers urged farmers not to grow GE sugar beets because of increasing resistance of consumers to GE foods.   The Organic Consumers Organization said the European countries have not approved GE sugar beets for human consumption.  

Those who would like to oppose American Crystal's plan on GE sugar, follow the link below and send a message to the company.

Stop Genetically Engineered Sugar Beets