Posted on 04/30/2018 8:34:18 AM PDT by Mariner
US government scientists have detected a weedkiller linked to cancer in an array of commonly consumed foods, emails obtained through a freedom of information request show.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been testing food samples for residues of glyphosate, the active ingredient in hundreds of widely used herbicide products, for two years, but has not yet released any official results.
But the internal documents obtained by the Guardian show the FDA has had trouble finding any food that does not carry traces of the pesticide.
“I have brought wheat crackers, granola cereal and corn meal from home and there’s a fair amount in all of them,” FDA chemist Richard Thompson wrote to colleagues in an email last year regarding glyphosate. Thompson, who is based in an FDA regional laboratory in Arkansas, wrote that broccoli was the only food he had “on hand” that he found to be glyphosate-free.
That internal FDA email, dated January 2017, is part of a string of FDA communications that detail agency efforts to ascertain how much of the popular weedkiller is showing up in American food. The tests mark the agency’s first-ever such examination.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Stalwarts of the truth, both of them.
I can say nothing definitive, either Yes or No.
But for the article to baldly state that Round-Up is "linked to cancer" is not exactly without controversy.
I’ve read this kills gut bacteria - an integral part of how your body works.
But, we’ve been told it breaks down in the soil and doesn’t affect the food... so I feel better, since scientists know so much.
Wait. Is that bad?
GMO crops were developed for no-till farming.
They are engineered to be resistant to Roundup.
That way they can treat the field with Roundup and kill off everything else, and not have to weed or till.
Problem is.....you then end up eating crops that have been growing in Roundup.
Its a misleading headline
YES - trace amounts of many pesticides are found in products - and have been for a long time. Indeed, animal antibiotics can be found in things like honey, as bees are difficult creatures to control.
In this particular case, Glyphosate (Roundup) is one of the most common herbicides used in conjunction with Monstanto’s genetically engineered soy, corn and wheat.
Its a difficult balance - the need for ever-increasing food supplies, and inexpensive food, with demands of the environment and human health.
“But for the article to baldly state that Round-Up is “linked to cancer” is not exactly without controversy. “
I agree. That is a fact not in evidence.
A single, weak study in Europe made the assertion.
Over a dozen studies worldwide show there is no link.
But nobody, anywhere, has claimed it is harmless to humans.
https://debunkingdenialism.com/2017/03/08/the-perils-of-anti-pesticide-hysteria/
Glyphosate is a herbicide that is much safer than many other herbicides. It targets the enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) that is involved in the Shikimate pathway for synthesizing the aromatic amino acids tyrosine, tryptophan and phenylalanine. Humans and other animals get these amino acids through food so it has no affect on the availability of those amino acids in those organism groups.
A 2015 report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that the evidence shows that glyphosate probably does not damage DNA or cause cancer in humans (EFSA, 2015; EFSA, 2016). An earlier report from the WHO group International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) had claimed that glyphosate was probably carcinogenic in humans (Guyton et al, 2015), but this was contradicted by not only the previously mentioned EFSA report, but also by a joint WHO/FAO report that concluded that dietary exposure to glyphosate probably does not cause cancer (JMPR, 2016). IARC is not involved in risk assessment and ignores dose considerations.
Because glyphosate can replace much more harmful pesticides, it should be a welcome addition as a way of reducing the harms from pesticides. However, many anti-pesticide activists have specifically targeted glyphosate for a massive misinformation campaign. This is likely because it ties into crops that have been genetically modified to be resistant to glyphosate that are sold by the large agricultural biotechnology company Monsanto. Many extreme environmentalists oppose large corporations and most things associated with them, including GMOs and glyphosate.
Undocumented hype. Besides, glyphosate is a herbicide, not a pesticide.
Herbicide not pesticide, and there is no definitive cancer study proving correlation. Also, what were the amounts? We can find traces of practically anything in food if you dig deep enough. I’m not defending round-up, but lets not get all wound up in half truths and suppositions. Let’s use solid facts.
If you read it it must be true ...
Breaking down in soil to the point of being ineffective is not the same thing as claiming no traces are absorbed by plants.
No wonder my Mother always told me to eat my Broccoli.
Is it your assertion that glyphosphate is harmless, or just that there is no firm link to human cancer?
The good news and the bad news:
Good news: Only hippies eat granola.
Bad news: glyphosate gets rid of weeds, not hippies.
I eat only certified organic.
Because I can.
I know most cannot.
Why don’t we have soil-less farming yet ?
“there’s a fair amount in all of them,”
“There’s a fair amount” is not a scientific measurement where I come from.
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