Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SUGAR TO HIT STORES IN 2008

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Pumpkin Lady <pumpkingal@clearwire.net>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SUGAR TO HIT STORES IN 2008
  • Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:26:17 -0500

Yes, I'm very late. I saved it and only just got back to it.

Liz wrote:

A relative of mine, who has a degree in agriculture, argues that refined sugar is nothing more than crystals of C12 H22 O11 , and is demanding that I explain how GMO seeds could affect that.
I don't know how the beets are genetically modified, but with corn the corn itself produces BT...it's an intrinsic part of the product. My concern would be that if the beets are modified, that since no testing is required to prove that they don't have anything identifiably in them, if they DO, then if there ARE problems they won't be known for a while, and probably any problems will be buried in "well sugar isn't good for you anyway" phoo phoo, rather than laid at the feet of monsanto. Maybe the refining process WOULD take out anything nasty, but I'd feel better if they did some tests at an independent lab or something. Also, I don't know how sugar is tested for purity, but I know darn well (having temped as a lab tech on quality assurance) that you CAN skew results to get a passing grade on sub standard stuff if that's what the company wants to do.

Part of the problem is that all food has an allowable percentage of "other" in it. Chocolate has an allowable percentage of bug parts. "organic" products can still have a percentage of things in them that aren't "organic" (like soy lecithin that's not organic in organic chocolate). If sugar has an allowable "other" then it's quite possible that even if it is tested, the GMO additive would be allowed to go through under the "other " clause. Then too, even if they test...if they are not testing FOR a particular thing, then it's unlikely to be detected, now isn't it?

He's probably right about that, and I've gone on at length about cross-contamination of other related beet varieties, as well as swiss chard. And the medical consequences of glycosate in our drinking water, and other peripheral dangers. And the fact that byproducts of sugar manufacture are used in other food products--dried beet pulp is used as cattle feed, and beet molasses is used to culture yeast, for example. But if anyone here can give me specific data on how the GMO seed affects the final refined product, I'd appreciate it.
If anyone coughed one up and I didn't see it, please send it to me off list.

Thanks,
Morgan






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page