It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
...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.
Not a single mainstream media outlet has covered this appalling new report that shows millions of people being poisoned by a chemical that does not belong in our food. This chemical is ending up in processed foods like Cheerios, Ritz Crackers, and Oreos and being consumed by humans across the world.
“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.
Separately, FDA chemist Narong Chamkasem found “over-the-tolerance” levels of glyphosate in corn, detected at 6.5 parts per million, an FDA email states. The legal limit is 5.0 ppm. An illegal level would normally be reported to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but an FDA supervisor wrote to an EPA official that the corn was not considered an “official sample”.
Over the next few weeks or months, government officials will investigate the Bayer-Monsanto deal to determine whether it would breach antitrust regulations or negatively impact food safety and supply. As that process plays out, it's important to remember that corporations like Bayer and Monsanto spend quite a bit of money to ensure that the government sides with them in moments like this
Interestingly enough, these two companies in particular are known for their political spending. According to OpenSecrets , a non-partisan research firm dedicated to government accountability, Monsanto has spent nearly $2.5 million on lobbying efforts this year, making it the biggest spender in the agricultural industry. Bayer is the eighth-highest spender in the pharmaceuticals industry and has spent over $3.6 million on lobbying so far this year.
And it's not like both companies decided to start lobbying the government in anticipation of this big merger. In fact, both companies have a long history of political spending; over the past decade, Bayer and Monsanto have spent a combined $120 million on lobbying.
Other findings detailed in the FDA documents show that in 2016 Chamkasem found glyphosate in numerous samples of honey. Chamkasem also found glyphosate in oatmeal products. The FDA temporarily suspended testing after those findings, and Chamkasem’s lab was “reassigned to other programs”, the FDA documents show. The FDA has said those tests were not part of its official glyphosate residue assignment.
Regulators, Monsanto and agrochemical industry interests say pesticide residues in food are not harmful if they are under legal limits. But many scientists dispute that, saying prolonged dietary exposure to combinations of pesticides can be harmful.
Toxicologist Linda Birnbaum, who is director of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), said that current regulatory analysis of pesticide dangers does not account for low levels of dietary exposures.
The US Department of Agriculture was to start its own testing of foods for glyphosate residues in 2017 but dropped the plan.
The lack of government residue data comes as Monsanto attempts to bar evidence about glyphosate food residues from being introduced in court where the company is fighting off allegations its Roundup products cause cancer.
originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: butcherguy
The usda enforces organic regulations.
How much are you going to trust them?
originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Dogwooddoors
Why would they spray roundup at harvest time?
That crap kills pretty much everything including whatever you're trying to harvest.
originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Dogwooddoors
Why would they spray roundup at harvest time?
That crap kills pretty much everything including whatever you're trying to harvest.
The first Roundup Ready crops were developed in 1996, with the introduction of genetically modified soybeans that are resistant to Roundup. These crops were developed to help farmers control weeds. Because the new crops are resistant to Roundup, the herbicide can be used in the fields to eliminate unwanted foliage. Current Roundup Ready crops include soy, corn, canola, alfalfa, cotton, and sorghum, with wheat under development.
Roundup Ready crop seeds have notoriously been referred to as "terminator seeds." This is because the crops produced from Roundup Ready seeds are sterile. Each year, farmers must purchase the most recent strain of seed from Monsanto. This means that farmers cannot reuse their best seed. Read more about terminator seeds.
originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Dogwooddoors
Never heard of that one.
Crops need to run a full cycle.
Guess out west it's different.
originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: shawmanfromny
What else is it found in?
If I buy a bag of potatoes... is it in them too?
I guess I have to buy expensive organic food to avoid it?
originally posted by: LogicalGraphitti
I see in the graphic something called 365 Organic Golden Round Crackers.
originally posted by: Asktheanimals
Chart is in Parts per Billion while safe levels are given in Parts per Million.
Move that period over 3 places to the left when reading the chart.
Everything shown is under the FDA limit.
That said, I hate roundup and would never want to eat it or use it in my yard.
Government agencies should get paid by corporations instead of taxpayers at the rate they're going.
The second study found that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, can cause a serious liver disease at doses thousands of times lower than that allowed by law.
What are key takeaways of the study? Dr. Antoniou: First, the rats consumed a glyphosate-equivalent level of Roundup that is 75,000 times lower than what is permitted in Europe and 437,500 times lower than that allowed in the U.S. Our study results suggest that the permitted safety intake level of glyphosate-based herbicides needs to be revisited as they may have been set way too high. The second point that this is a new risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and needs to be taken into account by the medical establishment.
*These samples exhibit very low recovery and/or response. The above amounts found are rough estimates at best and may not represent an accurate representation of the sample.