Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

[SunnySmile501]

The purveyors of poison are in a fix...

Food companies warn of sugar shortage

Concern comes as sugar prices hit 28-year highs.

Posted by Elizabeth Strott on Thursday, August 13, 2009 8:37 AM
Sugar is sweet, but not when there isn't any.

Top executives at Kraft Foods (KFT), General Mills (GIS), Hershey (HSY) and Mars wrote a letter to Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, warning of a severe shortage of sugar used in chocolate bars, breakfast cereal, cookies, chewing gum and thousands of other products if the Obama administration doesn't ease import restrictions amid soaring prices for the key commodity, The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday.

The companies said they would have to raise prices and lay off workers if the Agriculture Department doesn't allow them to import more tariff-free sugar, according to the report. Current import quotas limit the amount of tariff-free sugar they can import in a year from all countries except Mexico. That has weighed on supplies from major producers like Brazil and India, the No. 1 and 2 sugar producers, respectively.

Sugar makes up about 8%, 6% and 1%, respectively, of the costs for Hershey, Kraft, and ConAgra Foods (CAG), according to a recent report by Barclays Capital analyst Andrew Lazar, the report said.

U.S. sugar supplies are expected to plummet 43% by September 2010 from this fall, according to the Agriculture Department's monthly report on global farm markets that came out Wednesday.

Meanwhile, raw-sugar futures for October delivery rose 1.05 cents, or 4.8%, to 22.97 cents a pound on the InternationalExchange Wednesday. Earlier in the session, the price hit 23.33 cents, the highest for a most-active contract since March 1981.

Analysts have been forecasting a global supply shortfall because of too little rain in India and too much in Brazil.

Prices of sugar futures contracts have risen 95% so far this year because of supply worries.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Dispatch/print.aspx?post=1223440

[Evansmom49]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

I'll donate whatever's left in the back of my cabinets!

[DSK]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

What's sugar again???

[keriann_forgoodthistime]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

awwwww i'm so very sad to hear this!!! :P

[hopejoy]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

Maybe america will lose wt. ?
or here's an idea... they could reduce the amount of sugar used in their products... gasp!
liz

[judyintn]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

I don't think my family has used even a four pound bag of sugar in the last year, can't remember when I bought it last. Even the kids drink water or tea sweetened with Splenda, so not crying over the sugar shortage in our house!!!

[JulieB]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

I wonder how many pounds of sugar the average American (or Canadian or ...) eats in one year? I wonder how much of it is "hidden' sugar... I bet the answers would be really gross.


EDIT: Ok, I wondered so much I Googled it:
Candian article (excerpt from http://www.consumerhealth.org/articl...19990303141416): In 1816, the average sugar consumption per person was 15 pounds per year. In 1955, the average sugar consumption was 120 pounds per year. Now in 1990 it is about 180 pounds per person per year. This is equivalent to half a pound per day per person.

American article: http://www.cspinet.org/new/sugar_limit.html "According to new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data, sugar consumption in 1999 was 158 pounds per person — 30 percent higher than in 1983. Consumption has risen every year but one since 1983."

British article: http://macrobiotics.co.uk/sugar.htm " In 1915, the national average of sugar consumption (per year) was around 15 to 20 pounds per person. Today the average person consumes his/her weight in sugar, plus over 20 pounds of corn syrup."

I'm not sure how accurate this is...but it is interesting!

[hopejoy]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

No wonder there is such an epidemic of diabetes in the US. Maybe a sugar shortage is exactly what we need. We need to get back to the 1816 average. Thanks for posting all those stats. pretty interesting.
liz

[ziggy]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

i wish the government would ban sugar and white flour or atleast make it like alcohol and tobacco with warning labels saying DANGER: Health hazardous material not for minors 18+

[Whatsername]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

I was telling my son about this article and he said...there would still be high fructose corn syrup!

I was telling him about hidden sugars everywhere...in things you wouldn't expect..not just the obvious like cookies and candy.

[Slapshot]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

We should be careful what we wish for.... If I was an executive at General Mills/Hershey and knew this was coming, I'd be telling my engineers to find a way to replace natural sugar with the cheaper and more readily available HFCS. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

[mizski]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

American article: Sugar Intake Hit All-time High in 1999 "According to new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data, sugar consumption in 1999 was 158 pounds per person — 30 percent higher than in 1983. Consumption has risen every year but one since 1983."

This is a figure from 10 years ago! I was unable to find anything current (did not spend forever searching though). Seems a tad suspicious that there aren't any readily available current studies. I think the sugar industry doesn't want us to know.

I tried to think of my sugar consumption from summer '08 to now. Being generous, I don't even think it comes to 8 oz. Pre-Atkins, I used 1 tsp. of sugar in baking a loaf of bread. The 6 oz. jar of honey bought last summer is about 1" down. The box of 50 Splenda packets from last summer is still pretty full. Other than the sugar in Hellman's mayo and maybe Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing, can't think of what else. Making most everything homemade really helps in cutting down on sugar.

So, I guess I won't mind the sugar shortage much at all!

[imagood1]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

We rarely used sugar in our home for a couple years before any of us were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. About the only time we did was Christmas candy -- mom has never been a sugar eater on anything (just think of cereal without sugar or sweetner...yuck) - the hubs used alot but not at home because we didn't have it here -- only Equal at the time.....when I started Atkins I threw out half a box of Equal (1000 packets in the box) and bought the same size box of Splenda.....

Without white sugar they WILL find a replacement -- the candy companies depend on the sweet tooth people to keep large amounts of funds filling their coffers!!

[mizski]

Re: Awwwww...there's a sugar shortage LOL

Without white sugar they WILL find a replacement -- the candy companies depend on the sweet tooth people to keep large amounts of funds filling their coffers!!

Probably HFCS? Also the soda. I was in the mega grocery store last week to restock on bottled water. The soda is a HUGE isle (both sides) with the water taking up about 4' down the end. So MUCH soda!! And people were putting 4 or 5 cases in their carts. Too bad.