The poison in our daily bread: Study finds high levels of weedkiller in common supermarket foods
Published: March 29, 2022
Category: Pesticides
The results of the most comprehensive glyphosate testing of food products ever conducted in the U.S. were recently released by The Detox Project, in a detailed report that shows the true levels of weedkiller contamination in essential foods sold by some of the top grocery stores in the country.
The world’s most used weedkiller, glyphosate, was discovered in a wide range of essential food products including bread, pulses, and grains from top grocery stores such as Hy-Vee, Whole Foods Market, Amazon, Walmart, and Target.
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup, is a probable human carcinogen according to WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and has led to the manufacturers of Roundup, Bayer/Monsanto, being forced to pay over $10 billion in damages to gardeners, groundskeepers, and farmers who are suffering with blood cancer (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma).
Of the products that were tested, a range of whole wheat breads contained the highest levels, alongside chickpeas and Quaker Oats. The worst offending products were found in Hy-Vee, Whole Foods Market and Walmart, with the products with the lowest levels being found in natural and organic retail chain Natural Grocers.
In what may be a surprise to many consumers, 18 of the 26 Non-GMO labeled products tested contained glyphosate, including two of the highest five levels discovered (535 ppb and 1040 ppb respectively).
Where is the glyphosate coming from?
This report shows the damning reality that preharvest spraying (desiccation), an off-label use of glyphosate-based weedkillers, is leading to the mass contamination of essential foods that form the base of our diet.
These alarming results also show that Bayer/Monsanto, scientists, and government regulators have long failed to understand or even explore the basic risks and level of exposure from the U.S. food supply.
Besides wheat, oats and barley, Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides are regularly sprayed on more than 70 crops, including almonds, apples, dry edible beans, lentils, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), peas, grapes, rice, and sunflowers.
How was the testing performed?
This testing project was performed in exactly the same way as government regulators occasionally perform checks for pesticides in off-the-shelf food products; a selection of different essential foods, including bread, grains, pulses (lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas), and protein bars and shakes were purchased from top grocery stores and sent directly to an expert ISO 17025 certified third-party laboratory in California. They were then tested using gold standard mass spectrometry methods (LC-MS/MS).
The number of samples and the wide selection of essential food types tested make this the most comprehensive single glyphosate testing project ever performed in the U.S.. Similar smaller projects on specific areas of the food supply have previously shown glyphosate contamination in cereals, hummus, and protein supplements, with some of the results having been reported in the New York Times.
The latest testing project was funded by the Rose Foundation, based in California, which supports projects that protect and support nature, human rights and environmental justice.
You can find the full testing report here.
Source: The Detox Project
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Organic & Non-GMO Insights April 2022
