Sudan conflict threatens supply of key soft drink ingredient

FILE PHOTO: A farmer climbs on an Acacia tree to collect gum arabic in the western Sudanese town of El-Nahud that lies in the main farming state of North Kordofan December 18, 2012. Business is booming in the western Sudanese town of El-Nahud thanks to rising global demand for gum arabic, a natural and edible gum taken from acacia trees growing in the area. Picture taken December 18, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sudan's eruption into conflict has left international consumer goods makers racing to shore up supplies of gum arabic, one of the country's most sought-after products and a key ingredient in everything from fizzy drinks to candy and cosmetics.

About 70% of the world's supply of gum arabic, for which there are few substitutes, comes from the acacia trees in the Sahel region that runs through Africa's third-largest country, which is being torn apart by fighting between the army and a paramilitary force.