The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that has been dedicated to helping people live their healthiest lives for over 30 years. Their mission is to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment that helps drive consumer choice and civic action.
A major scientific study commissioned by EWG advised in October of 2018 that the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer was found in every sample of oat-based cereal, and other oat-based foods tested. This is very concerning, as the World Health Organization has said that they’ve identified the active ingredient in Roundup as “probably carcinogenic“. This finding was published shortly after a major study by JAMA Internal Medicine that found a significant reduction in cancer risk for individuals that ate a lot of organic foods.
Almost all of the samples tested by EWG have residues higher than what the scientists at EWG say are too high to protect children’s health with an adequate margin of safety.
These results disagree with claims by both Quaker and General Mills, which have said that there is no reason for concern.
All of the 28 samples tested detected the presence of glyphosate, and only 2 showed levels below the benchmark level of 160 ppb (parts per billion).
** Please see the chart on the chart to find your favourite products and their glyphosate levels.
The products were tested at a lab in San Francisco and included 10 samples of different types of General Mill’s Cheerio products, as well as 18 samples of Quaker brand products from PepsiCo which included instant oatmeal, breakfast cereal, and snack bars. The highest level of glyphosate found by the lab was the Quaker Oatmeal Squares breakfast cereal at 2,837 ppb, 18 times higher than the EWG benchmark!
In 2017, glyphosate was listed by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as a chemical known to cause cancer.
“How many bowls of cereal and oatmeal have American kids eaten that came with a dose of weed killer? That’s the question that only General Mills, PepsiCo, and other food companies can answer,” said EWG President Ken Cook, “Glyphosate and other cancer-causing chemicals simply don’t belong in children’s food, period”. Just because something is legal, does not mean that it is safe.
Federal government standards are often outdated, and not based on the best and most current science.
What About Canada?
You may be thinking “… but that’s in the U.S., surely Canada is better!?” However, you would be wrong in that assumption. According to the Canada.ca website, the acceptable level of Glyphosate on oat products is 35 ppm (that’s Parts Per MILLION, not the billion that the U.S. uses).
To compare apples-to-apples, 160 ppb equals .16 ppm and Canada allows 35 ppm!!! Canada allows 218 TIMES the EWG guideline amount of Glyphosate!!
It needs to be mentioned, and remembered, that the EPA’s standards for pesticides and other chemicals are heavily influenced by lobbying from industry.
Studies regularly find that the legal limits on contaminants in food, air, water, and consumer products regularly fall short of fully protecting public health, particularly for children and adults with chemical sensitivities.
EWG’s recommendation for the maximum amount of glyphosate in food should be 0.01 milligrams, which translates to 160 ppb in a 60-gram portion of food.
Read the article at: https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2018/10/roundup-breakfast-part-2-new-tests-weed-killer-found-all-kids
