Popular American Foods Contaminated with Monsanto’s Glyphosate Weedkiller at Alarming Levels, New Report Finds

Contributing writer for Wake Up World

Classified as “probably carcinogenic” by the World Health Organization, glyphosate — the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup and the world’s most widely used herbicide — has been found in a variety of best-selling American foods at disturbing levels, says a report by Food Democracy Now! and The Detox Project.

Anresco Laboratories, an ISO 17025 accredited and FDA-registered facility in San Francisco, was commissioned to test for glyphosate in a large range of foods. Founded in 1943 by Dr. Sylvan Eisenberg, Anresco is the forerunner in providing food safety analyses for pesticides, microbiology and nutritional labeling.

Using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) — considered the “gold standard” of testing methods — the lab detected alarming levels of glyphosate in General Mills’ Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Raisin Bran and Frosted Flakes, and PepsiCo’s Doritos Cool Ranch, Nabisco’s Ritz Crackers and Stacy’s Simply Naked Pita Chips, along with many other popular food products.

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You can read the full report, entitled “Glyphosate: Food Testing Results and Scientific Reasons for Concern”, here.

The results of the independent testing are disturbing, especially considering the weedkiller is linked with a variety of serious health disorders, including cancer, endocrine (or hormone) disruption, birth defects, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, ADHD, obesity, diabetes, lowered immune function, celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome. Children are particularly at risk.

Moreover, according to a 2015 study in the journal Environmental Health, researchers concluded that long-term exposure to Roundup “at an ultra-low, environmental dose can result in liver and kidney damage with potential significant health implications for animal and human populations.” [source]

Experts Weigh-in on Glyphosate Test Results

Dave Murphy, Executive Director of Food Democracy Now! — a grassroots food safety advocacy organization which commissioned the glyphosate residue tests — has this to say about the findings:

“Frankly, such a high level of glyphosate contamination found in Cheerios, Doritos, Oreos and Stacy’s Pita Chips are alarming and should be a wake-up call for any parent trying to feed their children safe, healthy and non-toxic food… It’s time for regulators at the EPA and the White House to stop playing politics with our food and start putting the wellbeing of the American public above the profits of chemical companies like Monsanto.”

Henry Rowlands, Director of The Detox Project, adds:

“These results show that both the U.S. regulators and food companies have let down consumers in America. Independent science shows that glyphosate may be a hormone hacker at these real-life exposure levels found in the food products. The safe level of glyphosate ingestion is simply unknown despite what the EPA and Monsanto would have everyone believe.”

After reviewing the findings, London molecular geneticist Dr. Michael Antoniou said “it’s urgent that regulators at the EPA reconsider the allowed levels of glyphosate in American’s food and work to limit continued exposure to this pervasive chemical in as large a section of the human population as possible.” He also feels the data gathered by the glyphosate food testing project “provides valuable information for consumers, elected officials and scientists, like myself, in evaluating the toxicity of real world levels of exposure to this most widely used pesticide.”

The U.S. Government allows nearly six times more glyphosate in food than Europe.

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Contaminated Organics

Conventional and GMO foods aren’t the only edibles turning up positive with glyphosate — organic crops are at risk as well. Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides are truly a “menace without boundaries.”

A study by Abraxis LLC, a Warminster, Pennsylvania-based diagnostics company, and Boston University in the United States, found 59% of honey samples contained the chemical above the established limit of quantification, which was set at 15 ppb.

Another independent lab test discovered the region in which foods are grown plays a significant role in glyphosate residues. Organic grains sourced from Montana and Idaho contained glyphosate residue ranging from 0.03 to 0.06 mg/kg, just slightly lower than conventional grains evaluated. Organic crops which tested positive for glyphosate include wheat, barley, oats, spelt and einkorn.

The USDA National Organic Program itself admits:

“… there can be inadvertent or indirect contact from neighboring conventional farms or shared handling facilities. As long as the operator hasn’t directly applied prohibited pesticides and has documented efforts to minimize exposure to them, the USDA organic regulations allow for residues of prohibited pesticides at or below 5 percent of the EPA tolerance.”

In areas with short growing seasons, farmers will also desiccate crops with glyphosate to kill the plant so that it will wilt and dry for earlier harvest. The practice is used on 70% of wheat and barley crops, as well as on conventional, GMO or non-GMO soy beans, canola, field pea, flax, lentil and dry beans (chickpea, lupin and fava).

You can read more about this issue in the article “Glyphosate Nation: Troublesome Roundup Herbicide Found Throughout U.S. Food Supply — Organics Too.”

If you’ve had enough of our poisoned food supply, please take a moment to sign this petition calling for the EPA’s Inspector General to launch an investigation into the harmful effects of glyphosate on human and environmental health.