We’ve told you about genetically modified sugar beets and encouraged folks to eat pure sugarcane instead. Now, we are concerned about new information we discovered about a process designed to increase the profitability of sugarcane crops. We want to share this information with you.

Thanks to a listener who sent us a tip, we verified some surprising information in an interview with a researcher at the USDA. Sugarcane in Louisiana, Florida and other parts of the world are sprayed with the herbicide glyphosate (the active ingredient in RoundUp) before harvest to speed up the ripening process and to increase its sweetness.

Some studies worldwide suggest there is no safe level of glyphosate. Glyphosate was not developed to be ingested by humans.

U.S. Sugar (the same entity developing genetically modified oranges through Southern Gardens Citrus) did not respond to our attempts to contact them to comment on this story.

From the Food Nation Radio Interview Archives: Elizabeth Dougherty spoke with with Caleb Dalley from the USDA Sugarcane Research Unit.