Glyphosate is linked to higher rates of cancer, but getting it out of the food supply is no easy task.
Glyphosate Is In Our Food Supply
The Detox Project recently published their latest results from the most comprehensive glyphosate testing of food products ever conducted in the U.S., showing that the contamination of the U.S. food supply with the cancer-causing herbicide glyphosate is becoming significantly worse since their first report published 5 years ago.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the world’s most heavily used herbicide, Roundup. So even though it has widely been shown that glyphosate is linked to higher rates of cancer, getting it out of the food supply is no easy task.
What is particularly concerning is that even foods labeled as being “USDA Organic” or labeled as free from GMO contamination, also test positive for the presence of glyphosate. Many people, for example, choose gluten free alternatives to wheat, thinking that it is a healthy choice, but the grains, nuts, and seeds that make up most gluten free products are heavily contaminated with glyphosate as well…. the National Organic Program for USDA certification allows for smaller amounts of glyphosate to be present even in foods certified organic.
…Currently, we do not know the full effects on our health of glyphosate exposure at very low levels and we thus must follow the precautionary principle and ban the product from being sold immediately. It is simply not yet possible to set a safe level for glyphosate exposure and anyone who attempts to do so is bending the science.
The best we can do for now is to avoid foods and drinks that have levels over the internationally recognized reliable limit of detection for glyphosate in laboratories of 0.01 mg/kg (10 ppb), which can be done by consuming brands that are certified Glyphosate Residue Free.
Regenerative Farming Practices
A new study, published in January in the journal PeerJ, looks at how regenerative farming practices — soil-building techniques that minimize plowing, use cover crops, and plant diverse crops — affect the nutritional content of the food.
Results of the preliminary experiment, which included 10 farms across the U.S., show that the crops from farms following soil-friendly practices for at least five years had a healthier nutritional profile than the same crops grown on neighboring, conventional farms.
Results showed a boost in certain minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals that benefit human health. “What we’re seeing is that the regeneratively farmed soils had twice as much carbon in their topsoil and a threefold increase in their soil health score.”
Organic Consumers Association (OCA)
If you are interested in learning more or being an advocate for Organic foods, we refer you to OCA.
OCA is an online and grassroots 501c3 nonprofit public interest organization and the only organization in the US focused exclusively on promoting the views and interests of the nation’s estimated 95 million consumers of organically and socially-responsibly produced food and other products.
Its mission is to protect and advocate for consumers’ right to safe, healthful food and other consumer products, a just food and farming system, and an environment rich in Bio-diversity and free of pollutants.
https://www.organicconsumers.org/about-oca
Emma Bragdon, PhD, the Executive Director of IMHU.org, collected this information to benefit your food choices.