My level of distrust, disgust and loathing of Big Food has reached a new high.
The reason?
While doing some research for a completely unrelated article, I discovered the little known fact that food manufacturers are not required to specify on a food label whether the “sugar” or “sucrose” in their products is derived from cane sugar or beet sugar.
Why is this a big deal? There’s nothing wrong with beet sugar, right?
Wrong.
Since its introduction to the market in 2008, Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GMO sugar beets have completely taken over the market. At least 95% of the sugar beets grown in the United States are now genetically modified and the FDA encouraged this trend to continue with complete deregulation of GMO sugar beets in July 2012.
Here’s the critical point: approximately 50 percent of white sugar sold in the US is made from GMO sugar beets and consumers don’t even know it – most erroneously assume it is nonGMO cane sugar. Again, there is no requirement to distinguish on a food label whether “sugar” or “sucrose” is derived from beet sugar, cane sugar, or a mix of the two.
The bottom line is that any product you buy that says “sugar” or “sucrose” is almost certainly at least partially if not completely GMO beet sugar unless it is certified organic or labeled as 100% cane sugar.
What does this mean for those so called “throwback” sodas that use “old fashioned”, “real sugar” instead of high fructose corn syrup?
Nothing more than a marketing ploy. Throwback or “natural” sodas are not the healthier, old fashioned choice that food manufacturers would have you believe.
PepsiCo, manufacturer of Naked Juice and Sierra Mist has already been sued once for abusing the “natural” label. The company recently settled a lawsuit for $9 million that alleged that some of the ingredients in Naked Juice, a brand of fruit and veggie drinks, aren’t “natural” at all, with the vitamins synthetic, an artificial fiber manufactured by Archer Daniels Midland, and GMOs.
PepsiCo confirmed to me in a telephone conversation that the sugar in its “natural” sodas are in fact made with a mixture of cane sugar and GMO beet sugar.
In essence, if you are trying to avoid GMO high fructose corn syrup at the supermarket, your choice of products containing “sugar” are without a doubt GMO as well no matter what the item may be – candy, breakfast cereal or even “healthy” granola bars.
Buying bags of white sugar for making homemade kombucha? Better switch to organic sugar or nonorganic sugar specifically labeled as 100% cane sugar or you’ve been brewing a GMO drink for your family.
Use a pack of white sugar in your morning tea or coffee at Starbucks? Yes, that’s almost certainly at least partially GMO too.
Be careful when seeking out natural sodas like Blue Sky Sodas from Hansen at the healthfood store as this can be especially confusing. For example, the sugar used in the Blue Sky Organic soda line is pure cane sugar. In addition, four of the nonorganic sodas are listed on the Hansen’s Natural website as containing pure cane sugar as well.
However, for the majority of the Blue Sky sodas, the label does not say organic or pure cane sugar. It simply says “real sugar” which when I inquired, does indeed mean at least part of the sweetener is GMO beet sugar derived. Here is the exact wording of the email response to my telephone inquiry to customer service:
Thanks for taking the time to contact our company directly with your inquiry.
The sugar in Blue Sky Sodas is either sourced from cane and or beet and is refined as normal table top sugar is. Real refers to the fact it is not a chemically derived sweetener like High Fructose Corn Syrup, Glucose Syrup, etc.
Sugar from GMO beets is not considered chemically derived? Not sure how that conclusion could be made given that GMOs are created in a lab and are clearly not natural. Buyer beware indeed!
Why Products Containing GMO Beet Sugar are So Unhealthy
Besides the completely unknown effects of consuming GMOs which have never been adequately tested, the activist organization Citizens for Health reports that GMO sugar beets in the food supply are of particular concern because the sugar is extracted from the beet’s root rather than the part of the plant growing above the ground with the result being more glyphosate pesticide residues in the sugar.
Another problem is that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to increase the allowable levels of glyphosate on sugar beet roots, seemingly ad infinitum as superweed resistance continues to grow.
Inexplicably, the EPA continues to allow ever higher levels of glyphosate on GMO crops despite the release of a study showing that glyphosate inhibits the growth of beneficial gut bacteria in humans and leads to the overgrowth of pathogenic intestinal bacteria resulting in a slow, insidious increase in systemic inflammation over months and years.
Sodas That Really ARE Natural
When I discovered this information, I made a point to inform my children that what they had been doing at parties and whatnot – seeking drinks with plain sugar instead of GMO high fructose corn syrup – was no longer a safe strategy.
They must now choose water, 100% fruit juice, or sodas like Virgil’s (see picture above) that use only cane sugar and specify it as such on the label. These are the only “natural” sodas you can trust to be truly GMO free.
What shopping habits will you change now that you are aware of the sugar labeling scam that is causing even health conscious people to be lured into consuming GMO beet sugar? Will you discuss this with your children to help them avoid these foods and make wiser selections at parties and other events?
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources:
USDA Announces Decision to Deregulate Genetically Engineered Sugar Beets
White Sugar Now Coming From Genetically-Modified Sugar Beets
Feds to farmers: Grow GMO beets or face sugar shortage
PEPSICO TO NO LONGER CALL NAKED JUICES ‘NATURAL’
The Double Danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup
Monsanto’s Minions: US EPA Hikes Glyphosate Limits in Food and Feed Once Again
I have been purchasing the 10 lb bag of granulated sugar from Gordon Food Service to make my kombucha (which uses 7 cups every other week, based on your video for making large batches – thank you!). I emailed them and asked if it was beet or cane sugar. I was so surprised with their excellent customer service – they emailed back within 1/2 an hour and asked for the reorder number on the bag. I replied, and early this afternoon they replied “it is beet sugar”. Grrrr. Now I will have to find a new source. Kudos to them for the excellent service, sorry it was the wrong answer. I asked them to reconsider their source of sugar, as customers are becoming much more informed regarding food safety!
I am extremely frustrated. I buy this Blue Sky “natural soda” on occasion. I have never purchased the “organic” Blue Sky option because each “natural soda” can has GMO FREE listed on it!!! So now what? Are they using non GMO beet sugar (how can they be sure??) or is the label lying?!!!! This certainly wouldn’t be the first time I’ve found out I can’t trust labels….but this one is difficult for me because it says “GMO FREE”!
Best to stick to sodas that specify cane sugar. Given that 95% or even more of sugar beets are GMO in the United States, I wouldn’t trust any product that has beet sugar in it unless it is organic. I would say also that Hansen’s conveniently did not respond to my emails regarding whether the beet sugar in some of their nonorganic sodas was guaranteed nonGMO and if it was, how they could guarantee it if not certified organic.
Fyi…I too have contacted blue sky twice via email. I have of yet to receive a response to my inquiry of if truly GMO free as label states. I called today and was told they answer email each day. I told them it will be one week that I’ve been waiting on a response. I was promised a return call today. Haven’t received one yet. …really it is an easy answer if it really is GMO free, as states on label. …definitely not a good sign.
This is exactly why I don’t drink soda nor do I buy it, water only for my family and me. Sarah, thank you for posting this. I will be sure to share with friends and family who I know still drink this stuff.
The Blue Sky brand says “GMO Free” right on the can. I am pretty sure they are not allowed to do that unless it’s true. Is it possible that some of their sugar is sourced from non-GMO sugar beets? The email response from them mentions nothing about GMOs. You should really do further research before posting negative things about a company.
Which flavor … some of the flavors are definitely all cane sugar and nonGMO. Others are not. Very confusing!
It may also depend on what the laws/rules/regulations are as to where each flavor is produced. It’s kind of like buying a pair of pants at a store Made in USA, and then buying another pair of the same pants just a different size and they are Made in China.
Thank you for this article! We have stopped using sugar, wheat products or most processed foods. Most people say they are against GMO foods, yet I see them posting their sugar laden jams, jellies, preserves and fruits they canned this summer. If I mention anything against sugar, they roll their eyes and ignore what I said. They just keep feeding it to their children. I shared your article on my Facebook page. It is a good one!
Yes, all those homemade jams, jellies etc are loaded with GMO beet sugar unless organic sugar or nonorganic pure cane sugar is used.
Well, hopefully most people are using C&H Cane Sugar when they are canning, that says pure cane sugar. So that should be GMO non-beet, right? I’m so curious about a store like Trader Joe’s, they state on their website that they don’t use GMO products, but it seems like that would be impossible when a good number of their products have sugar and corn products.
Yes, I think most people just don’t know about this loophole in labeling of sugar … we have a local healthfood store that really tries to be GMO free but I can tell you there are products in there with GMO beet sugar in them.
I too wondered about this, as my local Trader Joe’s had a package of flour tortillas labeled “organic”. When I read the ingredients list everything was organic except the cornstarch- almost certain to be GMO-since not organic. And my local health food store has Bob’s Red Mill corn product (not organic). I was unable to verify if Bob’s is GMO or not, so I left that corn flour on the shelf. I don’t appreciate any of these companies making things so difficult for us consumers. Really, How hard was it for Trader Joe’s supplier to use organic cornstarch in those tortillas?!
What about the “natural flavors” in Virgil’s Soda? I thought that as well was a mix of many different ingredients that no one really knows what it is made of??
Bianca,
I did a little research today and I found this letter from Virgil’s in regard to their “natural flavors”:
Natural Flavors “refers to essences and extracts coming from natural sources (fruits and plants). Sweeteners are never included in natural flavors, they must always be listed separately. We do not use corn-based ingredients in any of our Virgil’s sodas.”
While it doesn’t mention beets, it does say their sweeteners are always listed separately.
Checked a local soda company and yay! Cane sugar! http://www.zuberfizz.com if anyone would like to check them out!
Thanks for your research.
But the big question is What is Mexican coke made of??
The Blue Sky soda says GMO free on the side of the can for the orange creme, wild raspberry, cola, and creme soda flavors. It matches the picture of the picture of the can above. Is that to not be believed?