The fate of cellular DNA during the standard purification steps of the sugar manufacturing process from conventional and transgenic sugar beets was determined. Indigenous nucleases of sugar beet cells were found to be active during the first extraction step (raw juice production) which was carried out at 70 degrees C. This and the consecutive steps of the manufacturing process were validated in terms of DNA degradation by competitive PCR of added external DNA. Each step of the process proved to be very efficient in the removal of nucleic acids. Taken together, the purification steps have the potential to reduce the amount of DNA by a factor of > 10(14), exceeding by far the total amount of DNA present in sugar beets. Furthermore, the gene products of the transgenes neomycin phosphotransferase and BNYVV (rhizomania virus) coat protein CP21 were shown to be removed during the purification steps, so that they could not be detected in the resulting white sugar. Thus, sugar obtained from conventional and transgenic beets is indistinguishable or substantially equivalent with respect to purity.