Breakfast foods today are often served with a dash of Roundup. And now independent tests are available to help us choose which brands test free from the chemical glyphosate (see some of the actual products below).
According to EWG’s Children’s Health Initiative, “Each year, more than 250 million pounds of glyphosate are sprayed on American crops, primarily on “Roundup-ready” corn and soybeans genetically engineered to withstand the herbicide, but other crops as well. Some ends up in our breakfast food.
On May, 2019, $2 billion settlement went against glyphosate (Round-Up) manufacturer, Monsanto, because it causes cancer (non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma). And that is just one of many, many verdicts being awarded!
So what is glyphosate and how does it get in our food?
Glyphosate is a powerful chemical herbicide. Commercially, it’s most commonly known under the brand name “Roundup”. In 1974 the Monsanto Company began selling Roundup as a weed killer.
The chemical compound of Roundup (glyphosate) is so powerful, it destroys almost all plant matter it touches.
Monsanto began looking at ways to ensure that it would only kill weeds – and not completely destroy entire crops. They developed seeds for plants that RESIST glyphosate and don’t die when sprayed with Roundup so farmers could produce higher yields. These kinds of plants are referred to as GMOs or Genetically Modified Organisms.
Since the mid-90s the use of glyphosate use has skyrocketed.
Glyphosate gets into the food system when a farmer plants GMO seeds, sprays the crop in Roundup, and then sells that crop to food manufacturers.
That food could be:
• Your oats or oat products
• The lettuce in your salad
• The berries in your breakfast smoothie
• The wheat of your bread, cake or cereal
• The food given to beef cattle
• The milk from dairy cows
• Or even your baby’s formula
Norwegian researchers even found that soybeans grown from “Roundup Ready” (GMO) seeds actually contained glyphosate WITHIN the beans themselves. Yikes.
Desiccation of Our Food at Harvest
Monsanto admitted that glyphosate exists on and in crops that are heavily sprayed with Roundup – such as corn, soybeans, canola and cotton.
When it comes to chemicals on our food there is a big surprise:
There is also a process known as desiccation, in which farmers douse their crops with glyphosate just before harvest. It’s done to grains in order to make sure they dry out sufficiently for storage and transport.
AND because this process essentially “kills” the plant and dries it out, this method has been used on “Non-GMO” crops as well.
High glyphosate levels are found in crops one would NEVER suspect glyphosate:
• Cereal grains such as barley, oats, rice, millet, and wheat
• Flaxseed
• Legumes including beans (kidney, garbanzos, pinto), lentils, and peas
Once the compound is applied, plants’ leaves absorb it and pass it throughout the plant down to the roots.
It prevents plants from making certain proteins they need to grow. It does this by shutting down the shikimic acid pathway in plants. Without this pathway, plants die in a matter of days or weeks.
Testing, Testing- They Knew All Along
In 2017, internal emails obtained by the nonprofit US Right to Know revealed that the FDA has been testing oat-based breakfast foods and baby food for glyphosate for two years and found “a fair amount.”
US Right to Know states, “Even though the FDA annually examines foods for residues of many other types of pesticides, it has skipped testing for glyphosate residues for decades. That came only after many independent researchers started conducting their own testing and found glyphosate in an array of breakfast foods, including flour, cereal, and oatmeal.”
Because of organizations like US Right to Know and EWG, the results could be made public in early 2019.
Independent Testing of Breakfast Foods
Well-known names in oatmeal, cereals, snack bars and granola showed up a considerable dose of the poison in Roundup, according to independent laboratory tests commissioned by EWG.
Glyphosate, an herbicide, has been linked to cancer by scientists and the World Health Organization. It was found in all but two of 45 samples of products made with conventionally grown oats.
I highlighted the organic products to show they are LOW in glyphosates!! So now you can see which products are best.
‘ND’ means NO glyphosates detected!
Basically, safety was set at a single serving of food with a glyphosate level of 160 parts per billion, or ppb. To understand the safe levels set by EWG and other agencies, read more here.
Oat-Based Breakfast Foods that Exceeded on Average 400 ppb
Three samples of Cheerios had glyphosate levels averaged 497 ppb. Twelve samples of breakfast foods had levels of glyphosate lower than EWG’s health benchmark, ranging from 10 ppb to 120 ppb. Only two samples had no detectable glyphosate.
Three samples of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats averaged 930 ppb, with the highest at 1300 ppb.
This is still within safe levels deemed by the Environmental Protection Agency, although it is currently working on an updated assessment.
Glyphosate in your Breakfast Foods? Organic farming can help
Since our son runs an organic farm, he never uses any of these chemicals, but he has to be show that there is also no contamination of his organic crop to the inspector. It is a nerve-wracking time since there are other farms nearby that could contaminate his organic crop.
There are always worries of drift from nearby fields of conventionally grown crops. Since he ships directly to an organic facility, there is no other way to cross-contaminate.
Nature’s Path explains:
While organic farming certifications prohibit the use of glyphosate, organic products do not always end up completely free of glyphosate residue. While this news may come as disappointing, it is not entirely surprising. Glyphosate use has skyrocketed in the past decade, and it maintains the ability to adhere to water and soil particles long enough to travel through the air or in a stream to nearby organic farms.
The probability of glyphosate contamination of organic crops (and ultimately our breakfast foods) just highlights the need to restrict pre-harvest uses of glyphosate like desiccation.
In the $289 million case decided in August, 2018, for Dewayne Johnson, the jury found that Monsanto knew for decades of the product’s hazards and not only failed to warn customers, but schemed to publicly discredit the evidence.
The California case that ended Friday was the first of reportedly thousands of lawsuits against Monsanto. These suits have been brought by farm workers and others who allege that they developed cancer from years of exposure to Roundup.
“In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans, and has steadfastly defended that decision despite ongoing attacks by Monsanto.” (source)
Breakfast Foods That Contain Monsanto’s GMO Corn
I found this image on GreenAmerica.org to give you a quick visual.
Look for the Non-GMO label
The Non-GMO Project has an excellent website that verifies non-GMO products from baby food and infant formula to packaged breakfast foods to fruits and vegetables by brand.
Why Is Glyphosate Sprayed on Crops Right Before Harvest?
“Don’t eat anything your great-great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. There are a great many food-like items in the supermarket your ancestors wouldn’t recognize as food.. stay away from these” ~Michael Pollan
“True healthcare reform starts in your kitchen, not in Washington” ~Anonymous
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Regina
My Quaker Old Fashioned Oats has the non GMO Label yet according to your list ranks high in glyphosates. I’m confused???
Jacqueline
Regina, I would always buy organic. If you notice, all the organic products are MUCH lower in glyphosates. (I added a sentence right above the graphs with the numbers on levels detected so it was more clear). There will still be some cross-contamination even with organic certification. We are an organic farm and certification is a weird animal…certifiers are still prone to human temptation and errors. The NON-GMO project is fallible as are all of the other certifiers. It IS confusing to almost everyone. Blessings, J
Isabella
Thanks for this article. I read some of this info. elsewhere but appreciate your view. Since many of us have relied on Cheerios for a quick breakfast for years, could you give us alternative breakfasts that you serve in your house? I’m always struggling to feed my family healthful, quick breakfasts (that they will actually eat). Thanks!!
Jacqueline
Isabella, there are still lots of the breakfast foods on the list in this post that show very low to NO detected (ND) glyphosates. When we were homeschooling, our kids (and we) loved oatmeal twice a week. We added fruit, yogurt, and nuts (walnuts), plus cinnamon and raw honey to make it delicious and very nutritive! I soaked it overnight and cooked it in the morning, It takes 5-7 minutes on a medium temp on the stove (and if you are right there and stirring occ. it will not burn on higher setting in less time). I always use 365 or Bob’s Red Mill Old-Fashioned rolled oats as they still test ‘none detected’ for round-up (see the chart)!
There is also a breakfast with oats I make that saves a LOT of time!: https://deeprootsathome.com/rebeccas-berry-oat-breakfast-bread-soaked/ It gives me lots of breakfasts that they will eat especially when warm in the cooler months.
Lastly, we eat a lot of eggs!!! Plain (over easy), on tortillas with ground beef or with toast, 3 eggs and will fill any child up with great brain-food and protein for a long day. I have a cast iron, non stick skillet that never needs washed – only wiped out!! This post needs some work on the video, but it gives how and why I don’t wash my cast iron egg skillet. https://deeprootsathome.com/cast-iron-skillet-frittata-quick-and-easy/
I hope that helps!! J
Isabella
Thank you! We have various food allergies (someone with nuts, another with eggs) so food is a challenge for me but your ideas are helpful. Thank you!
Janet
Does Bob’s oatmeal contain corn as you pointed out in another article?
Jacqueline
Janet, Could you provide me with the other article? I am not remembering it! Thanks! J
D Haban
Regina,
GMO is an acronym for genetically modified organism. This term has nothing to do with chemical applications or exposure. It simply means that the organism is naturally occurring in nature. But, they still dump chemicals in, on and around the plant. If you want no glyphosate, then you need to purchase organic foods. Organic certification does not allow for RoundUp application.
Jacqueline
D. Haban, thank you! That is correct, but the point of this post is that there is contamination accepted by even some “organic” certifiers.
Karen
Thanks for this info! We basically stopped buying cereal because of this several months ago. Thanks for the list of safe breakfast foods. We have the added restriction of nut allergies in my house. Most organic cereals contain or are cross-contaminated with nuts. If anyone knows of cereals that are both nut- free and free of this chemical, please let me know. Thanks!
Jacqueline
Karen, I have been looking too, and I will keep my eyes open for one! It isn’t easy is it!?!
Joanna
Sick!!
I’ve just finished Joel Salatin’s great book called “Folks, this ain’t normal” and am much more aware of what we’re eating now. Thanks!
Jacqueline
Yep, Joanna, I wish everyone would read Salatin’s helpful and enlightening book! ~J
Susie
Good article, Jacque! I realize the article is about Glyphosate and avoiding it in breakfast cereals, but I wanted to make a comment in regard to one of the article’s comments that is not accurate. The comment was “GMO is an acronym for genetically modified organism. This term … simply means that the organism is naturally occurring in nature.”
Actually, GMO, or genetically modified organism, is a plant, animal, microorganism or other organism whose genetic makeup has been modified in a laboratory using genetic engineering or transgenic technology. It is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. The foreign genes may come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans.This creates combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and virus genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods. This is not a naturally occurring process, but is in fact gene manipulation in a laboratory. For clarification: https://seedsofdeception.com/what-is-gmo/ https://www.nongmoproject.org/gmo-facts/what-is-gmo/
I think GMO is sometimes confused with hybridization but it is not the same thing.
Jacqueline
Susie, I had to look long and hard to find the quote you shared here…now I see it was someone’s comment! I must have missed the comment back then. I would hope people would understand that hybridization is not the same thing as genetically modified!
Thank you! ~J
Doree
Jacqueline, One Degree oatmeal advertises on their package to be organic, non GMO and glyphosate free. Costco currently carries One Degree oatmeal. One Degree also makes granolas as well as other cereal products that Sprouts carries (other stores probably carry them as well, but I have only seen them at Costco and Sprouts.) I have seen them online at Vitacost.com and I’m sure other online stores have them too. I’ve been using One Degree oatmeal and granolas and they are very good!
Congratulations on your number 6&7 grand babies! God is so good!
Jacqueline
Doree, the only way to know for sure on any of the claims in print is to have the product tested (or see the company’s own tests).
Anyone can call the company’s headquarters and ask for their 3rd party testing reports (if they have them) to get a better idea.
Thanks for that report!
Blessings,
Jacque