SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Several Quaker Oats cereals were found to contain levels of glyphosate that the Environmental Working Group considers dangerous for children. (Photo: Simon D/Flickr/cc)
Glyphosate--It's What's for Breakfast: Study Finds Cancer-Causing Weedkiller in Popular Oatmeal, Cereals, and Snack Bars
Concerned that "President Trump's lawless EPA" won't take action to protect children from the chemical, EWG calls on companies to end use of glyphosate
Aug 15, 2018
A study of dozens of popular oat-based breakfast foods delivered sobering news this week when almost all of the products examined by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) were found to contain the chemical glyphosate.
"We're very concerned that consumers are eating more glyphosate than they know," said Scott Faber, vice president of government affairs at EWG, in a statement.
Glyphosate is classified as a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization and was listed last year as a chemical known to cause cancer by California.
Out of 45 products "made with conventionally grown oats," all but two were found to contain glyphosate. EWG also tested two organic brands, detecting the chemical in five samples.
Thirty-one of the breakfast foods were found to contain levels of glyphosate that were higher than the level that EWG deems safe for children.
"Parents shouldn't worry about whether feeding their children heathy oat foods will also expose them to a chemical linked to cancer." --Alexis Temkin, EWGQuaker Simply Granola, Giant Instant Oatmeal, Quaker Dinosaur Eggs Instant Oatmeal, and Quaker Steel Cut Oats had some of the highest levels of the chemical.
Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, claims that glyphosate and Roundup are not unsafe for humans--but a jury in California vehemently disagreed with them last week, ruling in favor of a man who blamed Roundup for causing his cancer.
The company was ordered to pay $289 million in damages to Dewayne Johnson, who worked for years as a school groundskeeper in California.
Thousands of farm workers and others who have come into contact with Roundup are reportedly also preparing to take legal action against the company after developing cancer.
In light of the lawsuit and the World Health Organization's 2015 conclusion that the chemical is a "probable carcinogen," said EWG on Wednesday, "It is very troubling that cereals children like to eat contain glyphosate."
"Parents shouldn't worry about whether feeding their children healthy oat foods will also expose them to a chemical linked to cancer. The government must take steps to protect our most vulnerable populations," said Alexis Temkin, Ph.D, a toxicologist at the organization.
However, EWG cautioned consumers against waiting for President Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take any action in light of the startling study. In December the agency issued a "deeply flawed" analysis, one which relied heavily on industry studies, which claimedthat glyphosate is not harmful for humans.
"We will petition the Environmental Protection Agency to do its job and end uses of glyphosate that resulted in the contamination we report today," EWG president Ken Cook said. "But we very much doubt our petition will be acted upon by President Trump's lawless EPA. So we're calling on the companies to make these iconic products with clean ingredients."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
bayerchildrenenvironmentenvironmental working groupfoodglyphosateherbicidesmonsantopublic healthroundup
A study of dozens of popular oat-based breakfast foods delivered sobering news this week when almost all of the products examined by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) were found to contain the chemical glyphosate.
"We're very concerned that consumers are eating more glyphosate than they know," said Scott Faber, vice president of government affairs at EWG, in a statement.
Glyphosate is classified as a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization and was listed last year as a chemical known to cause cancer by California.
Out of 45 products "made with conventionally grown oats," all but two were found to contain glyphosate. EWG also tested two organic brands, detecting the chemical in five samples.
Thirty-one of the breakfast foods were found to contain levels of glyphosate that were higher than the level that EWG deems safe for children.
"Parents shouldn't worry about whether feeding their children heathy oat foods will also expose them to a chemical linked to cancer." --Alexis Temkin, EWGQuaker Simply Granola, Giant Instant Oatmeal, Quaker Dinosaur Eggs Instant Oatmeal, and Quaker Steel Cut Oats had some of the highest levels of the chemical.
Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, claims that glyphosate and Roundup are not unsafe for humans--but a jury in California vehemently disagreed with them last week, ruling in favor of a man who blamed Roundup for causing his cancer.
The company was ordered to pay $289 million in damages to Dewayne Johnson, who worked for years as a school groundskeeper in California.
Thousands of farm workers and others who have come into contact with Roundup are reportedly also preparing to take legal action against the company after developing cancer.
In light of the lawsuit and the World Health Organization's 2015 conclusion that the chemical is a "probable carcinogen," said EWG on Wednesday, "It is very troubling that cereals children like to eat contain glyphosate."
"Parents shouldn't worry about whether feeding their children healthy oat foods will also expose them to a chemical linked to cancer. The government must take steps to protect our most vulnerable populations," said Alexis Temkin, Ph.D, a toxicologist at the organization.
However, EWG cautioned consumers against waiting for President Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take any action in light of the startling study. In December the agency issued a "deeply flawed" analysis, one which relied heavily on industry studies, which claimedthat glyphosate is not harmful for humans.
"We will petition the Environmental Protection Agency to do its job and end uses of glyphosate that resulted in the contamination we report today," EWG president Ken Cook said. "But we very much doubt our petition will be acted upon by President Trump's lawless EPA. So we're calling on the companies to make these iconic products with clean ingredients."
A study of dozens of popular oat-based breakfast foods delivered sobering news this week when almost all of the products examined by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) were found to contain the chemical glyphosate.
"We're very concerned that consumers are eating more glyphosate than they know," said Scott Faber, vice president of government affairs at EWG, in a statement.
Glyphosate is classified as a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization and was listed last year as a chemical known to cause cancer by California.
Out of 45 products "made with conventionally grown oats," all but two were found to contain glyphosate. EWG also tested two organic brands, detecting the chemical in five samples.
Thirty-one of the breakfast foods were found to contain levels of glyphosate that were higher than the level that EWG deems safe for children.
"Parents shouldn't worry about whether feeding their children heathy oat foods will also expose them to a chemical linked to cancer." --Alexis Temkin, EWGQuaker Simply Granola, Giant Instant Oatmeal, Quaker Dinosaur Eggs Instant Oatmeal, and Quaker Steel Cut Oats had some of the highest levels of the chemical.
Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, claims that glyphosate and Roundup are not unsafe for humans--but a jury in California vehemently disagreed with them last week, ruling in favor of a man who blamed Roundup for causing his cancer.
The company was ordered to pay $289 million in damages to Dewayne Johnson, who worked for years as a school groundskeeper in California.
Thousands of farm workers and others who have come into contact with Roundup are reportedly also preparing to take legal action against the company after developing cancer.
In light of the lawsuit and the World Health Organization's 2015 conclusion that the chemical is a "probable carcinogen," said EWG on Wednesday, "It is very troubling that cereals children like to eat contain glyphosate."
"Parents shouldn't worry about whether feeding their children healthy oat foods will also expose them to a chemical linked to cancer. The government must take steps to protect our most vulnerable populations," said Alexis Temkin, Ph.D, a toxicologist at the organization.
However, EWG cautioned consumers against waiting for President Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take any action in light of the startling study. In December the agency issued a "deeply flawed" analysis, one which relied heavily on industry studies, which claimedthat glyphosate is not harmful for humans.
"We will petition the Environmental Protection Agency to do its job and end uses of glyphosate that resulted in the contamination we report today," EWG president Ken Cook said. "But we very much doubt our petition will be acted upon by President Trump's lawless EPA. So we're calling on the companies to make these iconic products with clean ingredients."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.