Sugar

Description

Sugar is produced from sugarcane or sugar beet (worldwide 45%), in Europe almost exclusively from sugar beet.

• Table sugar, also known as saccharose, consists chemically of both the monosaccharides glucose and fructose, and is therefore a disaccharide.

The term sugar in a list of ingredients also includes liquid sugar forms such as inverted sugar syrup.

Application

Sugar is available is various forms (table sugar, caster sugar, icing sugar, rock sugar). It is an ingredient in countless foodstuffs and drinks, including:

• confectionery, chocolate, jam(marmalade), bakery products, puddings, ice cream and fruit products
• muesli, cornflakes and other breakfast cereals
• lemonade, drinks
• also: tomato ketchup

Gene technology

• Raw material sugar beet
  Food and fodder produced from GM sugar beet grown in North America is approved in the EU. Approval for cultivation of GM sugar beet in the EU is being sought, but no commercial cultivation is currently planned. In the EU, sugar is at present exclusively produced from conventional sugar beet.
• Primary product sugarcane
  Until now no genetically modified sugarcane has been cultivated or utilised.

Labelling: Even though it is not possible to determine whether sugar, a pure, crystalline product, was produced from GM sugar beet or GM sugarcane, it is necessary to declare sugar that has been produced from GM plants.