Cancer-Causing Chemical Glyphosate Found In Dozens Of Children’s Breakfast Foods
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s weed-killing herbicide, Roundup, has been found in a range of breakfast foods marketed to U.S. children. On Wednesday, CBS reported that the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released their findings from a study that tested 45 samples of products from conventionally grown oats. Only two of the samples did not test positive for the chemical. Thirty-one of the tested products had levels higher than what scientists agree is safe for children.
The Guardian reports that some of the products found in the EWG study which contain the highest levels of glyphosate include popular brands such as Quaker, Kellogg’s, and General Mills.
“I grew up eating Cheerios and Quaker Oats long before they were tainted with glyphosate. No one wants to eat a weedkiller for breakfast, and no one should have to do so,” EWG president Ken Cook noted.
The products that show traces of glyphosate include breakfast cereals, granola, and snack bars.
According to Fortune, the most concerning results were found in Quaker Old Fashioned Oats, which had levels higher than 1,000 parts per billion (ppb) — EWG’s safety benchmark is 160ppb. Cheerios and Lucky Charms also tested higher than the safety benchmark. Sixteen samples of organically grown oats were tested by the EWG as well. Of those, only five of the products were discovered to have glyphosate, and at levels lower than the organization’s benchmark. Both the World Health Organization and the state of California have found links between the chemical and cancer.
This study was released on the heels of a high-profile court case that resulted in the jury awarding $289 million to Dewayne Lee Johnson, a Benicia School District groundskeeper who sued Monsanto after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. As reported by the Inquisitr last week, Johnson was required to use Roundup as a bulk spray up to 30 times a year, and the jury found Monsanto accountable for the man’s terminal cancer.
Despite the jury award, Monsanto Vice President Scott Partridge maintains that glyphosate is safe. In response to the lawsuit, Partridge gave a statement to CNN.
“We will appeal this decision and continue to vigorously defend this product, which has a 40-year history of safe use and continues to be a vital, effective and safe tool for farmers and others,” he said. “More than 800 scientific studies, the US EPA, the National Institutes of Health and regulators around the world have concluded that glyphosate is safe for use and does not cause cancer.”
