In the News

Together with toilet paper, dried beans and sliced bread, family flour has seen an extraordinary spike of sales since the beginning of March…According to the Home Baking Association, the seeds of this surge of family flour demand were evident before the coronavirus outbreak.

There are many things said about sugar and, unfortunately, it seems that very few of them are true. While this is frustrating, collectively we can insert facts into the conversation and change the dialogue, even if it takes one conversation at a time.

“Only 30% of U.S. consumers know sugar comes from plants, which indicates both the challenge and opportunity facing the U.S. sugar industry,” Courtney Gaine, President and CEO of the Sugar Association said at the International Sugarbeet Institute.

“Consumers overall are increasingly interested in so-called “clean-eating,” Gaine said. “Consumers want to know what the ingredients in their food are…

“Nancy Pelosi famously eats dark chocolate ice cream for breakfast. Courtney Gaine ’00 (CAHNR), ’05 Ph.D. has no quibble with that; she sometimes breaks her fast with a candy bar. “It’s always been okay to enjoy sugar in moderation,” she says.

Although not widely talked about by the media, a significant dietary trend has been taking place. Over the past 20 years, added sugars consumption has been on a steep decline. In terms of teaspoons, added sugars intake has decreased by nearly 25 percent since 2000, dropping from 21 to 16.1 teaspoons per day.

Laura Rutherford, sugarbeet grower and writer, interviewed Maria Scott, Senior Director of Scientific Affairs at the Sugar Association, to hear more about her background and the work the Sugar Association is doing.