High levels of Chemical Glyphosate Found in Popular Foods

Study finds that Glyphosate has been found in 45 different products from oatmeal and snack bars to an array of cereals 

In lieu of last week’s court case that proved glyphosate causes cancer, a new study has been released that shows that high levels of glyphosate have been found in a huge array of breakfast and snack foods marketed to children. Glyphosate is the chemical found in the popular Monsanto-made herbicide, Roundup, that is used as a weedkiller on everything from lawns, to food crops. The Environmental Working Group’s study (EWG) showed that in 45 different food product samples, (mostly oat based products including the popular Quaker Oats and Cheerios brands), there was very high levels of the chemical, higher than should be acceptable for humans to consume.

The problem is that glyphosate was once just sprayed on certain crops, like genetically modified corn and soy when it is being grown, because those products have been modified to withstand the herbicide. Now, the herbicide is also being sprayed on food crops that are not GMO, like wheat, oats, beans, and barley right before they are harvested. This makes the crops dry out quicker

and allows farmers to harvest them sooner. This new method of harvesting may be the reason for the higher levels of glyphosate seeping into our food supply.

To look at the full list of products and the levels of glyphosate found in them, click here: 

The guardian reported on this, as well as Ken Cook, the EWG president:

“I grew up eating Cheerios and Quaker Oats long before they were tainted with glyphosate,” said EWG’s president, Ken Cook. “No one wants to eat a weedkiller for breakfast, and no one should have to do so.” Cook said the EWG will urge the EPA to limit the use of glyphosate on food crops, but said companies should “step up” because of the “lawless” nature of the regulator under the Trump administration.

“It is very troubling that cereals children like to eat contain glyphosate,” said Alexis Temkin, an EWG toxicologist and author of the report. “Parents shouldn’t worry about whether feeding their children healthy oat foods will also expose them to a chemical linked to cancer. The government must take steps to protect our most vulnerable populations.”

To Rinse or Not to Rinse, that is the Question?

Rinsing food’s before cooking has been proven to help avoid illness 

The salad spinner was invented specifically to help cooks drain the water from vegetables they had just washed, but as our society has increasingly tried to cut prepping and cooking times, we have found ways to avoid washing our food before cooking as well. We now prefer “pre-washed” bags of lettuce, to fresh lettuce from the fields with some dirt on it, and instant bags of rice, to whole grain rice that comes in a jar. This new method of cooking has caused some serious problems, including the recent E.Coli outbreak this past Spring, which was the largest in a decade. Though E.Coli wouldn’t have been washed off by rinsing the lettuce beforehand, there are other foods that many American’s don’t know need to be rinsed or washed before eating. 

The top tips from NPR’s The Salt are as follows: 

• Rinse your Rice: Rice grown in America has naturally occurring Arsenic in it because our soil has Arsenic in it. By soaking your rice overnight and rinsing your rice before cooking, you can reduce the Arsenic level by up to half. 
• Rinse beans and grains: Rinsing your beans and grains cleans off dirt and debris, and also removes any cross contamination of grains that may have happened in the fields, which helps gluten-free and Celiac sufferers. 
• Wash produce throughly: Any produce you buy from a store or farmer’s market has potential to have micro-organisms on them, such as harmful bacteria. By washing and soaking these products you can remove a significant amount of them, so it is worth the time! 
• Don’t rinse your chicken: This goes for almost any meat, but chicken in particular! Don’t rinse it in the sink, because it can cause any bacteria from the meat to spread to counters, and other areas. 

For other helpful hints read the full article here.

EPA forced to Ban Harmful Pesticide

After court case, EPA has been ordered to ban the pesticide, chlorpyrifos, which has been shown to cause brain damage in children 

Chlorpyrifos, a pesticide used since the 1960’s on a wide range of food crops, was set to be permanently banned from all food crops during the Obama administration in 2015, because it had been shown to cause harm to humans. Last year, the head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, signed an order delaying the ban, which went against the EPA scientists recommendations. Two weeks ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals in the 9th Circuit ruled that there is no evidence to support the delay and that the EPA must implement the ban within the next 60 days. This is a win for all, as the chemical, created by the Dow Chemical company, has been linked to brain damage in children. Hawaii took the first step, as a state, to ban the chemical in May of this year. 

Huffington Post reported on the issue, showing the effects the chemical has shown to have on children and crops that it has been found on: 

“Annual testing reports by the Department of Agriculture show chlorpyrifos residues in nectarines, peaches, cucumbers and other crops. Studies have shown that children exposed to organophosphate pesticides, such as chlorpyrifos, have an increased risk for abnormal neurodevelopment, including persistent loss of intelligence and behavior problems. Even low-dose exposure to organophosphates, particularly in the womb, has been found to harm brain development, leading to higher risk of disorders like autism. “

To read the full article click here.

Herbicide Drifts From Cotton Farm Causes Damage to Vineyard

A West Texas vineyard is blind-sighted after herbicide from a nearby cotton farms drifts and kills crops

It has long been known that pesticides and herbicides can cause damage to our environment and food supply, regardless of whether or not a particular farm uses them, due to the wind. If one farm use pesticides and herbicides it is inevitable that these

Photo Credit: NPR

chemicals will end up in some way on neighboring farms. In West Texas, this problem has made a big impact on local vineyards, which haven’t been able to harvest any grapes for two years now. The herbicides used on neighboring cotton farms, something that is a new occurrence, has caused the grape vines to wither. This has been a common problem across America as pesticide use increases and goes almost unregulated. The use of new herbicides by big agriculture companies like Monsanto and Dow Chemical in recent years has been the culprit. 

NPR stated that:

“In 2017, companies such as Monsanto and Dow released new formulations of old chemicals that had been used for decades, called dicamba and 2,4-D, respectively. The products have some chemical similarities and are known as synthetic auxin herbicides. The companies also started selling cotton seeds that had been modified to resist these herbicides.

The problem is that these chemicals are more likely to drift into other fields than the older weedkillers did. That is causing a crisis that has swept across agricultural lands nationwide.”

The University of Missouri put out a study last month showing how much damage herbicides have had on crops across America. You can read it here.