MONITOR TOWNSHIP, MI — Michigan Sugar Co. officials say there's a lot of misinformation being shared on social media websites, such as Facebook, and elsewhere about genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, and they want to set the record straight.

That's why they're inviting the public to attend a presentation and community discussion on the topic Thursday, Jan. 15, at Saginaw Valley State University.

Cathleen Enright, executive vice president of food and agriculture for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, is to speak on biotechnology, how it helps, whether it's safe and other concerns.

Saginaw Valley State University is located at 7400 Bay Road in Saginaw County's Kochville Township. The discussion is to take place at 7 p.m. in the Rhea Miller Recital Hall. The event is free to the public and registration is not necessary.

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Ray Van Driessche, director of community and government relations for Michigan Sugar, explained the role GMOs play at the Monitor Township-based company in Bay County.

"Sugar beets themselves, the plant, is a GMO plant," he said. "Once the sugar is made and processed, there's no longer any trace of that GMO DNA in the sugar."

The technology is safe, he said.

"GMO technology has been proven safe by many, many organizations, health organizations, the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture)."

According to the FDA website, "genetic engineering is the name for certain methods that scientists use to introduce new traits or characteristics to an organism."

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Food and food ingredients form genetically engineered plans were introduced to the food supply in the 1990s.

Officials with the FDA prefer the term "genetically engineered" to "genetic modification" because they say it's more precise.

Earlier in the day on Jan. 15, Enright also is to speak during Michigan Sugar's annual shareholders' meeting, also taking place at SVSU, Van Driessche said. That meeting is not open to the public.

As executive vice president of the food and agriculture section of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Enright is responsible for industry leadership and advocacy on legislative, regulatory and market access issues.

Before joining the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Enright led the federal government affairs office of the Western Growers Produce Association, working on issues as varied as immigration reform, tax law and the farm bill.

Prior to that, Enright spent 12 years in the federal government negotiating agricultural trade agreements.

As deputy assistant U.S. trade representative, she negotiated a part of the Korea Free Trade Agreement and U.S. beef export agreements, and served as the U.S. representative to the World Trade Organization's Sanitary and Phytosanitary Committee.

At USDA, Enright was the chief negotiator for resolution of trade barriers impacting grains, produce and forestry and nursery products. She began her government career at the Department of State, where she negotiated the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

Enright earned a doctorate in biochemistry from the State University of New York and completed her post-doctoral training at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

"We do believe it is important that if they have any question or concern at all about GMO products, which have been out for well over 25 years, that this is a great opportunity for them," Van Driessche said.

— Heather Jordan covers business, Saginaw Valley State University, health and hospitals for MLive/The Saginaw News/The Bay City Times. She can be reached at 989-450-2652 or hjordan@mlive.com. For more news, follow her on Twitter and Facebook.