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Significant levels of glyphosate found in popular breakfast cereals

theguardian.com

41–50 of 57 posts

Re: Significant levels of glyphosate found in popular breakfast cereals

#41
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Considering reduction of pesticide use and exposure is one of the main objectives of the organic movement why does that matter when the still spray as much pesticides you want and still call it "organic"? call it the "pesticide free movement" or something, but don't conflate it with "organic", which is essentially a meaningless marketing term at this point, at least when it comes to food safety.

"they still spray as much pesticides you want" Organic labelled produce cant, it is subject to greater restrictions of pesticide use than general international farming regulations. Honestly, if you dont acknowledge this very basic reality of organic certification then your arguments against it are besides reason. Organic certification is not a "meaningless marketing term" like for example "family farm" can be. It mea…

> Organic labelled produce cant, it is subject to greater restrictions of pesticide use than general international farming regulations

Kinds, yes, which often results in greater and more environmentally harmful quantities. And the kinds are not based on any scientific evaluation of safety or health, but on what amounts to religious preference.

Organic certification is like kosher or halal certification.

Re: Significant levels of glyphosate found in popular breakfast cereals

#42
post #6

All the more reason to select organic produce and where possible start growing your own veggies or link up with local co-operatives. It's something we've done and having a close relationship with local growers and knowing about your food is fantastic and something kids love. The [roduce tends to have more nutrients as well (yet more positives). Can it be done large scale? I remember hearing in a talk about permacultu…

While you won't have to worry about glysophate on organic food, just as much, if not more, pesticides are used on organic crops.

Glyphosate is a an herbicide, not a pesticide.

Re: Significant levels of glyphosate found in popular breakfast cereals

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While you won't have to worry about glysophate on organic food, just as much, if not more, pesticides are used on organic crops.

Glyphosate is a an herbicide, not a pesticide.

Herbicides are a subset of pesticides by the technical definition, though “pesticide” is often used to mean something closer to (but sightly broader than) “insecticide” in popular use.

Re: Significant levels of glyphosate found in popular breakfast cereals

#44
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Considering reduction of pesticide use and exposure is one of the main objectives of the organic movement why does that matter when the still spray as much pesticides you want and still call it "organic"? call it the "pesticide free movement" or something, but don't conflate it with "organic", which is essentially a meaningless marketing term at this point, at least when it comes to food safety.

Not to mention fungicides and herbicides, which are also permitted with "organic" farming. https://tilth.org/app/uploads/2014/12/can-i-use-this-pestici... "Hydrogen peroxide and potassium bicarbonate, two familiar substances that are relatively new as fungicides, are also permitted." "Various natural substances have been tried as herbicides with mixed success. Clove oil is a botanical that is effective."

Right, those are ubiquitous chemicals and compounds with a relatively low uncertainty to their ecological and biological impacts. Unlike for example - synthetically augmented glyphosate compounds, and other contentious products which organic standards takes a precautionary stance towards.

Re: Significant levels of glyphosate found in popular breakfast cereals

#45
post #30
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason it looks sensationalistic is that it is. This is the result of an anti-science advocacy group called EWG that put out a press release that's being republished by various lazy news outlets. This is the same group that has made claims that vaccines cause autism and cell phones cause brain cancer. Unfortunately, this type of article is irresistible to the media and it's getting a ridiculous amount of traction…

There's nothing reputable about that site. Deal with it, reputable organisations have classified glyphosphate as a carcinogen.

> reputable organisations have classified [glyphosate] as a carcinogen

That's a bit of an oversimplification.

This article helps clarify the situation: https://www.factcheck.org/2017/08/glyphosate-cause-cancer/

An important point is the following:

> "An FAQ page on WHO’s website clarifies why the IARC’s and the pesticide residue experts’ conclusions aren’t contradictory.

> "The 2015 IARC conclusion aimed to identify any potential cancer hazard glyphosate may pose to humans at some level of exposure, WHO explains. But in 2016, the pesticide residue experts at WHO and the U.N. assessed the actual cancer risk the herbicide poses to consumers at a specific level of exposure, namely the level commonly found in foods."

Further:

> "In fact, a yet-to-be-published study that found no link between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, may have changed IARC’s 2015 analysis of the herbicide had it been published."

It's also worth noting that the IARC's finding is somewhat speculative, as described in https://www.nature.com/news/widely-used-herbicide-linked-to-... :

> "The IARC review notes that there is limited evidence for a link to cancer in humans. Although several studies have shown that people who work with the herbicide seem to be at increased risk of a cancer type called non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the report notes that a separate huge US study, the Agricultural Health Study, found no link to non-Hodgkin lymphomas. That study followed thousands of farmers and looked at whether they had increased risk of cancer.

> "But other evidence, including from animal studies, led the IARC to its ‘probably carcinogenic’ classification. Glyphosate has been linked to tumours in mice and rats — and there is also what the IARC classifies as ‘mechanistic evidence’, such as DNA damage to human cells from exposure to glyphosate."

There's a good amount of research showing no cancer links in practice at realistic levels, though, for example. Here are a couple of studies (one of which is mentioned above):

Cancer Incidence among Glyphosate-Exposed Pesticide Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1253709/ - "Glyphosate exposure was not associated with cancer incidence overall or with most of the cancer subtypes we studied."

Epidemiologic studies of glyphosate and cancer: A review - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027323001... - "Seven cohort studies and fourteen case-control studies examined the association between glyphosate and one or more cancer outcomes. Our review found no consistent pattern of positive associations indicating a causal relationship between total cancer (in adults or children) or any site-specific cancer and exposure to glyphosate."

In short, this is not an issue that justifies running around with one's hair on fire, unless that happens to be your hobby, which it does seem to be for some people.

Re: Significant levels of glyphosate found in popular breakfast cereals

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"they still spray as much pesticides you want" Organic labelled produce cant, it is subject to greater restrictions of pesticide use than general international farming regulations. Honestly, if you dont acknowledge this very basic reality of organic certification then your arguments against it are besides reason. Organic certification is not a "meaningless marketing term" like for example "family farm" can be. It mea…

> Organic labelled produce cant, it is subject to greater restrictions of pesticide use than general international farming regulations Kinds, yes, which often results in greater and more environmentally harmful quantities. And the kinds are not based on any scientific evaluation of safety or health, but on what amounts to religious preference. Organic certification is like kosher or halal certification.

> which often results in greater and more environmentally harmful quantities.

Do you have any substantial references of such results happening "often" or is that idea just gathered from anecdotes and casual articles ?

Re: Significant levels of glyphosate found in popular breakfast cereals

#47
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a long time, the story of pro-GMO advocates was "RoundUp is safer than other weed-killers because it's applied when the plant is still young and not growing edible parts yet, so there won't be any of it in your food". Looks like they were wrong. (Note that I'm not saying that RoundUp is worse than other stuff, or that there's more of it in our food that of other stuff.)

They may not be wrong. The article says that glyphosate was found present in all but two of the 45 oat-derived products. There are no GMO oats available on the market. Glyphosate is sometimes used on wheat and oats when the plant is at the end of its lifecycle when it is fine, if not desirable, if it kills the crop. We can reasonably conclude that the traces showed up because of the crop being non-GMO, delaying appli…

>There are no GMO oats available on the market

That's not true at all. Many companies offer Non-GMO oats. There's is a big difference between crops being sprayed with glyphosate and crops coming from non-GMO seeds.

Re: Significant levels of glyphosate found in popular breakfast cereals

#48
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They may not be wrong. The article says that glyphosate was found present in all but two of the 45 oat-derived products. There are no GMO oats available on the market. Glyphosate is sometimes used on wheat and oats when the plant is at the end of its lifecycle when it is fine, if not desirable, if it kills the crop. We can reasonably conclude that the traces showed up because of the crop being non-GMO, delaying appli…

>There are no GMO oats available on the market That's not true at all. Many companies offer Non-GMO oats. There's is a big difference between crops being sprayed with glyphosate and crops coming from non-GMO seeds.

Wait, didn't you two just say the same thing? He said there are no GMO oats available. You said companies offer non-GMO oats, which are not GMO oats.

Re: Significant levels of glyphosate found in popular breakfast cereals

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glyphosate is a an herbicide, not a pesticide.

Herbicides are a subset of pesticides by the technical definition, though “pesticide” is often used to mean something closer to (but sightly broader than) “insecticide” in popular use.

I keep forgetting this fact. In light of this, the idea that commercial produce could ever be "pesticide-free" is unlikely. Avoiding the use of pesticides altogether is going to be extremely expensive and/or extremely inefficient .

Re: Significant levels of glyphosate found in popular breakfast cereals

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Organic labelled produce cant, it is subject to greater restrictions of pesticide use than general international farming regulations Kinds, yes, which often results in greater and more environmentally harmful quantities. And the kinds are not based on any scientific evaluation of safety or health, but on what amounts to religious preference. Organic certification is like kosher or halal certification.

> which often results in greater and more environmentally harmful quantities. Do you have any substantial references of such results happening "often" or is that idea just gathered from anecdotes and casual articles ?

Without knowing more, it seems a logical deduction. If the "organic" pesticides were more effective than the "chemical" pesticides, farmers would always choose to use them. If the alternatives aren't as effective, then you need to spray more for the same result.
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