https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/glyphosate-unsafe-any-plate
Glyphosate: Unsafe on Any Plate
November 16, 2016
Food Democracy Now!
by David Murphy and Henry Rowlands
A leading FDA-registered food safety testing laboratory has found
extremely high levels of the pesticide glyphosate in some of America’s
most popular food products.
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, is the most
heavily used chemical weedkiller in food and agricultural production in
human history, as a result of the widespread adoption of genetically
engineered crops now grown on more than 175 million acres in the United
States(U.S.) and more than 440 million acres around the globe.1
New scientific evidence shows that probable harm to human health could
begin at ultra-low levels of glyphosate e.g. 0.1 parts per billions
(ppb). Popular foods tested for glyphosate measured between 289.47 ppb
and at levels as high as 1,125.3 ppb.
The testing and analysis was performed by Anresco Laboratories, San
Francisco, an FDA registered laboratory that has performed expert food
safety testing since 1943. The laboratory found that well-known products
tested for glyphosate, Original Cheerios, for example, measured levels
as high as 1,125.3 ppb. Other high levels of glyphosate were found in
familiar products such as Oreos, Doritos, and Ritz Crackers, among 29
foods tested.
Currently, U.S. regulators allow a very high level of daily glyphosate
residue in America’s food. The acceptable daily intake (ADI) limit is
set at 1.75 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (written 1.75
mg/kg bw/day) in the U.S., versus a more cautious 0.3 mg/kg bw/day in
the European Union. Tolerances have been set through the submission of
corporate-sponsored studies and industry influence on the regulatory
process.
New research shows that Roundup causes liver and kidney damage in rats
as reflected in changes in the functions of 4,000 genes at only 0.05
parts per billion (ppb) glyphosate equivalent indicating damage.2
Additional studies have found that levels as low as 10 ppb can have
toxic effects on the livers of fish3 and cause significant damage to the
livers and kidneys of rats at 700 ppb,4 which is the allowable level of
glyphosate found in U.S. drinking water.5
Credible independent, peer-reviewed scientific evidence now shows that
the levels of harm to human health could begin at the ultra-low levels
of 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) of glyphosate.
These groundbreaking new findings that one of the most iconic cereals in
U.S. contains levels as high as 1,125.3 ppb should be a wake-up call for
all Americans regarding unacceptable levels of pesticide residues in our
nation’s food. These findings are especially troubling, considering that
the latest independent scientific evidence, during which a team of
international scientists re-evaluated the same data previously used by
regulators, calls for a much lower ADI to be set at 0.025 mg/ kg of
bodyweight per day or “12 times lower than the ADI” currently set in
Europe and 70 times lower than the level currently allowed by the EPA in
the United States.
It’s important for individuals and parents to understand that glyphosate
contamination cannot be removed by washing and is not broken down by
cooking or baking. Glyphosate residues can remain stable in food for a
year or more, even if the foods are frozen or processed.
[Full article at
https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.fooddemocracynow.org/images/FDN_Glyphosate_FoodTesting_Report_p2016.pdf]