Vermont is shaking up the industry with a genetically modified food labeling law and that’s good news for Florida sugar growers.
The Vermont law doesn’t go into effect until July 1, but big food companies like Hershey have already stopped using sugar made from genetically modified beets to avoid a GMO label.
Rick Roth, president of Roth Farms in Belle Glade, says the law and other market factors have increased demand, and added as much as a penny to the per-pound price he’s getting for his cane sugar.
“It’s just beginning, so I don’t know how much of an impact it is, but it’s something that’s starting because of the Vermont law.”
Roth says food companies are switching because it’s easier than making separate labels for products sold in Vermont. Beets are genetically engineered to withstand weed killers and sugar cane is not.
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