I did a little more research, about fedco seeds. They specifically say they
cannot be held responsible if any of their seed is "accidentally"
contaminated, and are not legally or financially liable if you end up with a
problem. They do NOT test for GMOs, so perhaps we need to reconsider using
them as a source of beets, mangels, chard and corn.
Additionally, touchstone beets may be a bit of a problem, besides the fact
that they are listed as a hybrid by some dealers and as open-pollinated by
others. The only company testing touchstone gold beets for GMO's is Seeds of
Change, and they are not filling orders for it due to what they list as a
"crop failure". Since most if not all the touchstone seed comes from a single
source, and the only people testing have dropped it this year, that might
mean that it tested positive for contamination.
I am beginning a project using tested clean golden chard and tested clean
detroit dark red beets in an effort to bring back, as closely as possible,
the original version of golden beets, which was called golden detroit, many
years ago. It will take me at least two years for the first generation of
seed, and then I can start selection for a little uniformity and
stabilization into an open pollinated variety.