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What's your "Daily Value" of Glyphosate?
Catherine J. Frompovich
Activist Post
Sun, 22 Mar 2015
Do readers know what glyphosate is? Or, what the Daily Value (DV) is? Are you aware that there are glyphosate residues present in almost every food or edible product U.S. consumers eat? However, as yet, there are no minimum or maximum Daily Values for dietary intake guidelines designated by the U.S. FDA or any other federal health agency for glyphosate—a toxic herbicide in foods—intake, as there are for Guidance for Industry: A Food Labeling Guide (14. Appendix F: Calculate the Percent Daily Value for the Appropriate Nutrients). Maybe there ought to be such guidelines, since U.S. consumers are eating glyphosate residues in incalculable amounts in just about 85 to 90 percent of all processed foods!
It is my understanding that no one's figured out how much glyphosate we consume on a daily basis as yet.
Why should we know how much glyphosate we are ingesting?
Well, on March 20, 2015 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) produced a monograph, Evaluation of five organophosphate insecticides and herbicides, wherein as a result of IARC's research, the herbicide glyphosate [the major component in Monsanto's Roundup®] has been "classified as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group A)."
According to IARC's monograph,
Question: So, how does glyphosate get into both human and animal diets?
Answer: As residues remaining on genetically modified food crops, then eaten as fresh food or prepared packaged foods, which typically have many other processing ingredients added that contain additional glyphosate residues from such staples as soy, corn, sugar beets, or canola oil. Those four crops, in some form, are ubiquitous in packaged foods. They are used for all sorts of production reasons from seasonings to taste enhancers to being components of food processing chemicals, additives and/or preservatives.
Just to give readers an idea of some other chemicals used in the manufacture of processed foods, I've included the Encyclopedia Britannica's "Food Additives/Food Processing" [1] in the Reference section at the end. Those chemicals add to, and compound, the total chemical loads found in processed food.
Genetically modified or genetically engineered food crops have the ability to withstand excessive applications of the herbicide Roundup®, especially since Monsanto's Roundup Ready® GMO seeds allow crops to resist glyphosate, the toxic ingredient in Roundup, which is sprayed to kill weeds during growing season, but also sprayed on some cereal/grain/legume crops [wheat, feed barley, oats, canola, flax, peas, lentils, dry beans, and soy] at the end of their growing season, and before harvest, to act as a desiccant. [2, 8]
Comment: Is Glyphosate in wheat radically increasing Celiac Disease?
Keith Lewis, a wheat farmer, has this to say about preharvest glyphosate spraying:
Catherine J. Frompovich
Activist Post
Sun, 22 Mar 2015
Do readers know what glyphosate is? Or, what the Daily Value (DV) is? Are you aware that there are glyphosate residues present in almost every food or edible product U.S. consumers eat? However, as yet, there are no minimum or maximum Daily Values for dietary intake guidelines designated by the U.S. FDA or any other federal health agency for glyphosate—a toxic herbicide in foods—intake, as there are for Guidance for Industry: A Food Labeling Guide (14. Appendix F: Calculate the Percent Daily Value for the Appropriate Nutrients). Maybe there ought to be such guidelines, since U.S. consumers are eating glyphosate residues in incalculable amounts in just about 85 to 90 percent of all processed foods!
It is my understanding that no one's figured out how much glyphosate we consume on a daily basis as yet.
Why should we know how much glyphosate we are ingesting?
Well, on March 20, 2015 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) produced a monograph, Evaluation of five organophosphate insecticides and herbicides, wherein as a result of IARC's research, the herbicide glyphosate [the major component in Monsanto's Roundup®] has been "classified as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group A)."
According to IARC's monograph,
For the herbicide glyphosate, there was limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The evidence in humans is from studies of exposures, mostly agricultural, in the USA, Canada, and Sweden published since 2001. In addition, there is convincing evidence that glyphosate also can cause cancer in laboratory animals. On the basis of tumours in mice, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) originally classified glyphosate as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group C) in 1985. After a re- evaluation of that mouse study, the US EPA changed its classification to evidence of non- carcinogenicity in humans (Group E) in 1991.
The US EPA Scientific Advisory Panel noted that the re-evaluated glyphosate results were still significant using two statistical tests recommended in the IARC Preamble. The IARC Working Group that conducted the evaluation considered the significant findings from the US EPA report and several more recent positive results in concluding that there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals. Glyphosate also caused DNA and chromosomal damage in human cells, although it gave negative results in tests using bacteria. One study in community residents reported increases in blood markers of chromosomal damage (micronuclei) after glyphosate formulations were sprayed nearby. [pg. 1] [CJF emphasis added]
And, The US EPA Scientific Advisory Panel noted that the re-evaluated glyphosate results were still significant using two statistical tests recommended in the IARC Preamble. The IARC Working Group that conducted the evaluation considered the significant findings from the US EPA report and several more recent positive results in concluding that there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals. Glyphosate also caused DNA and chromosomal damage in human cells, although it gave negative results in tests using bacteria. One study in community residents reported increases in blood markers of chromosomal damage (micronuclei) after glyphosate formulations were sprayed nearby. [pg. 1] [CJF emphasis added]
Glyphosate currently has the highest global production volume of all herbicides.The largest use worldwide is in agriculture. The agricultural use of glyphosate has increased sharply since the development of crops that have been genetically modified to make them resistant to glyphosate.
Glyphosate is also used in forestry, urban, and home applications. Glyphosate has been detected in the air during spraying, in water, and in food. The general population is exposed primarily through residence near sprayed areas, home use, and diet, and the level that has been observed is generally low. [pg.2] [CJF emphasis added]
Glyphosate is also used in forestry, urban, and home applications. Glyphosate has been detected in the air during spraying, in water, and in food. The general population is exposed primarily through residence near sprayed areas, home use, and diet, and the level that has been observed is generally low. [pg.2] [CJF emphasis added]
Question: So, how does glyphosate get into both human and animal diets?
Answer: As residues remaining on genetically modified food crops, then eaten as fresh food or prepared packaged foods, which typically have many other processing ingredients added that contain additional glyphosate residues from such staples as soy, corn, sugar beets, or canola oil. Those four crops, in some form, are ubiquitous in packaged foods. They are used for all sorts of production reasons from seasonings to taste enhancers to being components of food processing chemicals, additives and/or preservatives.
Just to give readers an idea of some other chemicals used in the manufacture of processed foods, I've included the Encyclopedia Britannica's "Food Additives/Food Processing" [1] in the Reference section at the end. Those chemicals add to, and compound, the total chemical loads found in processed food.
Genetically modified or genetically engineered food crops have the ability to withstand excessive applications of the herbicide Roundup®, especially since Monsanto's Roundup Ready® GMO seeds allow crops to resist glyphosate, the toxic ingredient in Roundup, which is sprayed to kill weeds during growing season, but also sprayed on some cereal/grain/legume crops [wheat, feed barley, oats, canola, flax, peas, lentils, dry beans, and soy] at the end of their growing season, and before harvest, to act as a desiccant. [2, 8]
Comment: Is Glyphosate in wheat radically increasing Celiac Disease?
Keith Lewis, a wheat farmer, has this to say about preharvest glyphosate spraying:
I have been a wheat farmer for 50 yrs and one wheat production practice that is very common is applying the herbicide Roundup (glyposate) [sic] just prior to harvest. Roundup is licensed for preharvest weed control. Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup claims that application to plants at over 30% kernel moisture result in roundup uptake by the plant into the kernels.
Farmers like this practice because Roundup kills the wheat plant allowing an earlier harvest.
A wheat field often ripens unevenly, thus applying Roundup preharvest evens up the greener parts of the field with the more mature.
The result is on the less mature areas Roundup is translocated into the kernels and eventually harvested as such.This practice is not licensed. Farmers mistakenly call it "dessication." [sic] Consumers eating products made from wheat flour are undoubtedly consuming minute amounts of Roundup.
An interesting aside, malt barley which is made into beer is not acceptable in the marketplace if it has been sprayed with preharvest Roundup.
Lentils and peas are not accepted in the market place if it was sprayed with preharvest roundup..... but wheat is ok.. This farming practice greatly concerns me and it should further concern consumers of wheat products. [7]
So, now you can understand the importance of purchasing organically-grown cereals, vegetables, grains, and produce—and all food in general. Animals that are sources of food - meats, dairy products, and eggs - are fed GMO grains and alfalfa, plus antibiotics, hormones, and growth enhancer chemicals in their feed, some of which ends up in you. Readers may want to check out organic animal feeds here.Farmers like this practice because Roundup kills the wheat plant allowing an earlier harvest.
A wheat field often ripens unevenly, thus applying Roundup preharvest evens up the greener parts of the field with the more mature.
The result is on the less mature areas Roundup is translocated into the kernels and eventually harvested as such.This practice is not licensed. Farmers mistakenly call it "dessication." [sic] Consumers eating products made from wheat flour are undoubtedly consuming minute amounts of Roundup.
An interesting aside, malt barley which is made into beer is not acceptable in the marketplace if it has been sprayed with preharvest Roundup.
Lentils and peas are not accepted in the market place if it was sprayed with preharvest roundup..... but wheat is ok.. This farming practice greatly concerns me and it should further concern consumers of wheat products. [7]
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