[Ngo-sanrm] USDA Shirking Obligation to Give Consumers Clarity Over Herbicide Residues on Food

[Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Working Group]

U.S. RIGHT TO KNOW
<http://usrtk.org/pesticides/usda-shirking-obligation-to-give-consumers-clarity-over-herbicide-residues-on-food-2/>
JANUARY 11, 2016
<http://usrtk.org/pesticides/usda-shirking-obligation-to-give-consumers-clarity-over-herbicide-residues-on-food-2/>
USDA SHIRKING OBLIGATION TO GIVE CONSUMERS
CLARITY OVER HERBICIDE RESIDUES ON FOOD
by Carey Gillam <http://usrtk.org/author/carey/>

When microbiologist Bruce Hemming was hired two years ago to test breast
milk samples for residues of the key ingredient in the popular weed-killer
Roundup, Hemming at first scoffed at the possibility. Hemming, the founder
of St. Louis-based Microbe Inotech Laboratories, knew that the herbicidal
ingredient called glyphosate was not supposed to accumulate in the human
body. Hemming, who previously worked as a scientist for Roundup maker
Monsanto Co., now operates a commercial testing facility located just a few
miles from Monsanto’s headquarters.

But Hemming said his lab’s testing did find residues of glyphosate in the
samples of breast milk he received from a small group of mothers who were
worried that traces of the world’s most popular herbicide might be invading
their bodies. Food companies, consumer groups, academics and others have
also solicited testing for glyphosate residues, fueled by fears that
prevalent use of the pesticide on genetically engineered food crops may be
contributing to health problems as people eat foods containing glyphosate
residues.

Those fears have been growing, stoked by some scientific studies that have
shown health concerns tied to glyphosate, as well as data from the U.S.
Department of Interior finding glyphosate in water and air samples
<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-glyphosate-pollution-idUSTRE77U61720110831>.
The concern surged last year after the World Health Organization’s cancer
research unit said it had found enough scientific evidence to classify
glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen
<https://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/MonographVolume112.pdf>.

Consumers groups have been calling on the U.S. government to test foods for
glyphosate residues on behalf of the public, to try to determine what
levels may be found and if those levels are dangerous. But so far those
requests have fallen on deaf ears.  [READ MORE]
<http://usrtk.org/pesticides/usda-shirking-obligation-to-give-consumers-clarity-over-herbicide-residues-on-food-2/>

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