Glyphosate, primary ingredient in popular herbicide Round Up, present in 40% of products tested

April 19, 2016 — Today, the Alliance for Natural Health-USA (ANH-USA) released the results of food safety testing conducted on an assortment of popular breakfast foods. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) testing revealed the presence of glyphosate; the most widely used agricultural herbicide, in 10 of the 24 food samples tested.

Glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine) is an herbicide developed in 1970 by Monsanto, who began developing GMO crops designed to withstand high doses of Roundup. Today, these seeds account for 94% of all soybeans and 89% of all corn being produced. The prevalence of these crops means that hundreds of millions of pounds of glyphosate are dumped onto the land every year.

“We decided to do this testing to see just how ubiquitous this toxin has become in our environment. We expected that trace amounts would show up in foods containing large amounts of corn and soy,” explained Gretchen DuBeau, executive and legal director of ANH-USA. “However, we were unprepared for just how invasive this poison has been to our entire food chain.”

This poison, recently named a probable carcinogen, or cancer-causing agent, by the World Health Organization (WHO), was detected in 10 of the 24 breakfast foods tested. Analysis revealed the presence of glyphosate in oatmeal, bagels, eggs- including the organic variety, potatoes and even non-GMO soy coffee creamer.

“Glyphosate has been linked to increases in levels of breast, thyroid, kidney, pancreatic, liver, and bladder cancers and is being served for breakfast, lunch and dinner around the world,” said DuBeau. “The fact that it is showing up in foods like eggs and coffee creamer, which don’t directly contact the herbicide, shows that it’s being passed on by animals who ingest it in their feed. This is contrary to everything that regulators and industry scientists have been telling the public.”

The presence of glyphosate in eggs and dairy supports the fear that the chemical is accumulating in the tissue of these animals, and therefore presumably also in human tissue, in a process called bioaccumulation.

Furthermore, testing for glyphosate alone does not even give us the full picture. The amounts detected by the ELISA test for glyphosate do not include any analogs of glyphosate, such as N-Acetylglyphosate, which is used by DuPont in its GMO formulations. These analogs may also be present in food and would add to the amount of glyphosate accumulated in human tissue. Glyphosate and its analogs are known endocrine disrupters for humans.

Clearly Americans are consuming glyphosate daily. The true safety of this chemical, just last year identified as a probably carcinogen by the WHO, is unknown. Current EPA standards have not been rigorously tested for all foods and all age groups. Evidence linking glyphosate with the increased incidence of a host of cancers is reason for immediate reevaluation by the EPA and FDA.

To view the full results of the study click here.

ANH-USA has produced a video related to the study findings, which can be viewed here.



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