The Organic & Non-GMO Report Newsletter

Glyphosate weedkiller found in seven famous Italian spaghetti brands

Laboratory tests have detected glyphosate, the main ingredient in Bayer’s Roundup herbicide, in seven brands of Italian spaghetti, according to the Italian food industry website il Salvagente. Tests were conducted on 20 brands of spaghetti and traces of glyphosate were found in seven of them. The brands testing positive were Divella, Esselunga, Eurospin, Garofalo, Lidl, […]

GMO Free USA campaigns to block Scotts’ GM Roundup-Ready Grass

Non-profit GMO Free USA has called on retailers to not sell Scotts Miracle-Gro Company’s Roundup-Ready, ProVista genetically modified grass and seed (or any other GM grass), in light of the glyphosate herbicide’s danger to human health. Letters to CEOs of Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, Costco, Ace Hardware, and True Value were sent. GMO Free USA […]

Does Kenya Need GMO Cassava? Ask the World Food Prize-winner Who Saved Africa’s Cassava

Dr. Hans Herren had a lot to say about Kenya’s recent announcement to allow trials of genetically modified cassava. Dr. Herren had received the World Food Prize in 1995 for successfully stopping a mealybug infestation threatening cassava crops. The mealybug is an invasive species brought in from the Americas. After scouring Mexico and South and […]

Swiss council aims to extend GMO ban to 2025

Switzerland’s Federal Council proposed continuing its moratorium on GMOs until the end of 2025. An open consultation period will close in February 2021. The moratorium was begun through a popular 2005 initiative to prohibit the use of GMOs in Swiss agriculture, lasting four years; that regulation has been extended three times. Farmers and consumers seem […]

Gene-edited alfalfa claims to be non-GMO

S&W Seed Company has teamed with biotech company Calyxt (Minnesota) to use TALEN gene editing technology to create an alfalfa plant with improved digestibility—a trait attractive to beef and dairy producers. S&W breeder David Mickelson calls the technology “precision breeding,” claiming the approach produces non-GMO varieties because it doesn’t involve insertion of foreign DNA but […]