GM Sugar on it’s Way to Europe and Beyond

According to this recent article on the GRAIN website, sugar made from GM sugar beets has already been approved for import by the EU because — according to Monsanto, the refined product no longer contains GMOs.

For some time now Europe has been a major producer and exporter of sugar and sugar beets, but this is due to change in 2009.  After recent reorganizations in farming subsidies, the EU is left with just a few small centers of sugar beet production, and will go from being a net exporter to an importer of sugar.  Even though growing GM sugar beets is not allowed on a large scale at the moment in Europe, the importation of refined GM sugar is about to begin.

Following Monsanto’s logic that the refined product no longer contains GMOs, it seems likely GM sugar will also eventually find it’s way into certified organic products.

Sugar beets are strongly out-breeding plants, and their pollen is spread long distances in the wind.  Sugar beets will also cross pollinate with common beetroot.  In some places there are also naturally occurring weeds that can cross pollinate with sugar beets, potentially acting as a reservoir for the modified genes like what’s happened worldwide with GM rape (canola).  These contaminated weeds are potential ‘super weeds’ in that they can have resistance to Round Up.

For now purchasing European sourced sugar, as well as sugar labelled as ‘cane sugar’ will ensure you are not getting a GM product, but this will almost certainly change.  Work is well under way on GM sugar cane, and it’s likely to soon be grown on a very wide scale.  It also seems likely approval for growing GM sugar beets in Europe is not far away.

One the the main driving forces behind the massively large scale growing of sugar beets and cane is demand for biofuels in the US and Europe as well as other places.  This threatens to create ‘sugar deserts’ across large parts of Latin America as tons of glyphosate herbicide are dumped on these crops killing everything except the monoculture sugar crop itself.  The land used for this comes from deforestation or use of land that should be used for food production.

With respect to sugar cane, which is seen as the cheapest form of sugar production, very hard physical labor is required to harvest the canes.  Workers are often exploited and under paid.  Every year a number of workers die as a result of physical exhaustion.

The world does not need refined sugar and biofuels at this price!