(Source)
Breakfast foods today could very well be served with a dose of Roundup. And now independent tests are becoming available to help us choose which brands are clean from glysophates (see the 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. Some ends up in our breakfast food.
But when it comes to the food we eat, the highest glyphosate levels are NOT found in products made with GMO corn.”
Update: A $2 billion settlement on May, 2019 against glyphosate (Round-Up) manufacturer, Monsanto because it causes cancer, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Just one of many verdicts being awarded.
Desiccating Crops that are NOT Genetically-Engineered
It turns out that glyphosate is also sprayed just before harvest on crops that are NOT genetically engineered:
- Cereal grains such as barley, oats, rice, millet, and wheat
- Flaxseed
- Legumes including beans (kidney, garbanzos, pinto), lentils, peas, and soybeans
It is used to dessicate crops, which kills and dries out the crop so it can be harvested sooner than it would naturally. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, Monsanto’s weed killer, the most heavily used pesticide in the U.S.
EWG had Eurofin Analytical Laboratories test over 2 dozen brands of oat-based breakfast foods to give information about dietary exposures that government regulators are keeping secret.
In April, 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. In February, 2016, the agency said it would start glyphosate residue analysis. 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, 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 roganic crop to the inspector. it is a nerve-wracking time since there are other farms nearby that could contaminate his precious 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. Text from EWG exposes, “Roundup was produced for decades by Monsanto, which this year merged with the German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG.
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) reviewed extensive U.S., Canadian and Swedish epidemiological studies on glyphosate’s human health effects. The IARC classified the chemical 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 information 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.
“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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