‘Artificial sweetener killing sugar industry’

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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Tuesday, january 10, 2017
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BACOLOD City – An organization of sugar producers called on the government to act on the “massive” importation of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), an artificial sweetener it claimed was “bound to kill the sugar industry.”

HFCS imports in 2016 reached 234,863 metric tons, or 352,294.5 metric tons of sugar, the Confederation of Sugar Producers, Inc. (Confed) said in a press release, citing Bureau of Customs records.

“This spells a loss of P10.5 billion in the industry, and since sugar farming is still the economic lifeblood of Negros, this will result to an economic disaster if not addressed,” the organization’s president Francis de la Rama said.

The Confed asked the Sugar Regulatory Administration to “execute its mandate of managing and regulating the supply of sweeteners in the country.”

“Beverage companies … [utilize] higher volumes of artificial sweeteners (mostly HFCS) in the formulation of their beverage products at the expense of the domestically produced sugar,” said de la Rama.

According to the Confed, beverage companies used to consume about 70 percent of domestic sugar, but lately the HFCS composed about 80 percent of the sweetener mix such companies use.

HFCS importation tripled in the past two years, resulting in a “very low demand” for domestic sugar and, subsequently, a drop in mill gate prices, the Confed said.

This affects, directly and indirectly, about 5 million Filipinos, said de la Rama.

Ninety percent of people driving the sugar industry include agrarian reform beneficiaries and small farmers, he pointed out./PN

 

 

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