By Connor Lynch
Two recent attacks on glyphosate have proven to be a lot of hot air. U.S. news magazine Newsweek reported that glyphosate had been found in “popular children’s breakfast foods and cereals.”
The U.S. non-profit, The Environmental Working Group, tested 45 breakfast foods — including Cheerios and Quaker Oats — and found 31 had glyphosate levels that exceeded its standards.
But the study came under criticism from a University of Waterloo microbiologist for finding levels of glyphosate that weren’t actually dangerous. The Society of Toxicology, an American group of specialists in the toxicity of chemicals, has criticized the environmentalist group as well: 79 per cent of its members said in 2009 that the environmentalist group overstates health risks. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year released a statement saying that glyphosate “is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”
In Canada, the environmentalist group, Environmental Defence Canada, reported in August that glyphosate, better known in farm country as the main ingredient in the weed killer called Roundup, was discovered in Canadian foods. But the group found levels that were well within safe limits.
The Canadian environmental group has antagonized the government with its activism. In 2016, the Canada Revenue Agency planned to revoke the group’s charitable status because it was too political. The Trudeau government was elected that same year and the audit was suspended.
The Environmental Defence Canada’s report said that 80 per cent of the 18 foods it tested contained some amount of glyphosate. But glyphosate in food is not new. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency tested more than 3,000 food samples last year for glyphosate. Nearly 30 per cent of samples had some glyphosate residues, but only 1.3 per cent were above the maximum residue limits. Of that 1.3 per cent, the CFIA told the CBC last year that none of them posed a health risk.
Though glyphosate is a pesticide, it is less toxic than table salt. It’s also far from the only chemical thought to be toxic that is found in food and water. City water, for example, often contains the toxin chlorine but at levels safe for consumption.
As far as the Grain Farmers of Ontario is concerned, glyphosate is “a simple and effective tool to reduce weed pressure in (farmers’) fields.” Their only concern with it is that since it’s so widely used, weeds could become resistant to it.
Health Canada determined in 2017 that glyphosate was “unlikely to pose a human cancer risk,” a statement concurred with by the European Food Safety Authority, the European Chemicals Agency, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.
Pesticides in your food may sound scary but they are not a major concern with the Canadian Food Inspection agency, as pesticide recalls are unusual. In 2018 so far, there have been 235 recalls, none for pesticides. Harmful microbes in food are the most common reason for recalls, said CFIA spokesperson Brian Naud.
According to Ontario agronomists Christopher Dufault (formerly of Health Canada) and Robert Saik, glyphosate has actually reduced the amount of pesticide being used in Ontario fields, since it’s active in lower concentrations. Over 30 years, pesticide use on field corn dropped by 39 per cent, mostly due to increased glyphosate use. Glyphosate is also a low-risk pesticide, less toxic than table salt, the two agronomists wrote in an online post last month.
CTV News, reporting on the Canadian environmentalist study, ran the headline: “Weed-killing chemical found in pasta, cereal and cookies sold in Canada: Study.”
Farmers weren’t happy. Tweeted Manitoba crop farmer Kyle Case: “This is an absolutely disgusting article intended to do nothing but drive even more fear into the consumer about glyphosate. Shame on you.”
Saskatchewan crop farmer Lesley Kelly opined: “This is super disappointing that you ran a story (with click bait) from activists whose study is to do one thing — create fear about agriculture and how my family and I farm.”