According to Wall Street Journals report this past thursday, “Several giant food producers sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack warning that the U.S. might “virtually run out of sugar” of the country didn’t reduce import restrictions on the increasingly expensive commodity.”

Big time firms, such as Kraft Foods Inc., General Mills Inc., Hershey Co. and Mars Inc. have implied that if they weren’t able to receive supply markets like Brazil, they would run out of sugar to make our favorite candy bars, cookies, cereal and other products.

In order to keep prices within reason for domestic sugar farmers, the government only allows unlimited sugar imports from the Mexican market without the paying of tariffs. The price of raw sugar has increased to its highest level since 1981.

 The US Department of Agriculture said earlier this week that domestic supplies were now increasing and this was being backed up by the sugar industry group American Sugar Alliance (ASA).  “There is absolutely no shortage of sugar here,” said Jack Roney, director of economic and policy analysis at the ASA. 

What do you think? Do you believe that America can run out of sugar?

Image: Alicia Nijdam/Flickr