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Another Reason to Eat Organic — California Says That Glyphosate is Known to Cause Cancer

If you are ever asked why you eat organic food, particularly from a skeptic, there is a very easy answer — you don’t want to get cancer.

In July 2017, the State of California announced that:

Glyphosate is listed under Proposition 65 effective July 7, 2017 as known to the state to cause cancer.

That’s right. The State of California has said that glyphosate is known to cause cancer and is now requiring warning labels, effective July 2018.

https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/crnr/glyphosate-listed-effective-july-7-2017-known-state-california-cause-cancer

So, that begs the question: why should consumers care about this?

Because glyphosate is the most widely used chemical in the world today — approximately 300 million pounds of it is used each year in the U.S. — and it is sprayed on much of our food supply.

How much of the food supply and which foods exactly are sprayed with glyphosate?

It is a little difficult to say with exact precision because food labels do not disclose whether a product has been sprayed with this super-toxic chemical. However, here is what we do know.

1) Conventionally-grown foods allow for glyphosate to be sprayed on them. This means that any conventionally-grown food could potentially contain glyphosate.

To give you an idea of how serious this problem is, popular foods tested by Food Democracy Now! and The Detox Project found that glyphosate measured between 289.47 parts per billions (ppb) and at levels as high as 1,125.3 ppb.

General Mills – Cheerios: 1,125.3 ppb
General Mills – Honey Nut Cheerios: 670.2 ppb
PepsiCo – Stacy’s Simply Naked Pita Chips: 812.53
PepsiCo – Doritos Cool Ranch: 481.27 ppb
Nabisco – Ritz Crackers: 270.24 ppb

New scientific evidence shows that probable harm to human health could begin at ultra-low levels of glyphosate at 0.1 ppb. This is 1,750 times lower than what the EPA currently claims is safe.

2) Genetically-modified foods, which comprise roughly 70-80% of the foods on the grocery shelf, were designed to sell more chemicals.

As such, Monsanto’s RoundUp, a multi-billion dollar chemical and whose primary ingredient is glyphosate, is sold to farmers who purchase their GMO-corn and GMO-soybean seeds. RoundUp is sprayed directly on these crops.

So, if you are consuming a product which contains GMOs — such as corn, soy, canola, sugar beets, or cottonseed — there is an almost near guarantee that the product contains glyphosate.

3) Oftentimes, glyphosate is used on crops not to kill weeds but to make them dry faster. Yes, they are sprayed on crops, such as wheat, before they are harvested to in order to make them dry faster! This is a process called desiccation.

To give you some perspective, 78% of rapeseed oil — the third largest source of vegetable oil — is desiccated in the UK.

WHAT TO DO?

1) Buy organic because organic food production prohibits the use of glyphosate. Look for the USDA organic seal on products.

2) Although there are not many of them on marketplace just yet, look for products that have the Glyphosate Residue-Free Certification.  (See here for more information about this certification.)

 

3) Do not consume GMOs. If you need more information or guidance about this, please make sure to read my post 5 Essential Ways to Avoid GMOs.

 

IN SUMMARY

According to the President’s Cancer Panel report, 41% of Americans are going to get cancer and 21% of Americans are going to die from cancer. In light of the fact that this report is a decade old, it is very likely that these numbers are significantly higher.

So, with skyrocketing cancer rates in our country and with the State of California telling people that glyphosate is known to cause cancer, what more of an incentive do people need to make the switch to organic?

A message from Tradin Organic

How Tradin Organic is Helping Coconut Farmers in The Philippines

For more than a decade, Tradin Organic has been working with local partners in The Philippines to bring a diversified range of organic products to the market, such as coconut oil, tropical fruits and even cocoa.

The company is helping to support local farmers by assisting them with technical support and organic certification, in addition to paying Fairtrade premium on top of the organic premium.

Learn more.

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Living Maxwell

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BREAKING: Impossible Foods is “Misleading Consumers” About its GMO Protein, FDA Rejects the Claim That it is Safe for Consumption

* Impossible Foods is “misleading consumers” about the key ingredient in the Impossible Burger.

* The Company told the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) that its soy leghemoglobin was  “substantially similar” to proteins consumed daily by the global population, in the form of meat and other vegetables.

However, on the Impossible Foods website, it claims that the heme in the Impossible Burger is “identical” to the heme humans have been consuming for hundreds of thousands of years in meat and other foods. 

* The FDA told Impossible Foods that its arguments “do not establish safety of SLH (soy leghemoglobin) for consumption.” The company decided to sell the Impossible Burger to the public anyway.

* Impossible Foods relied on the expert testimony of scientists who have worked for or have links to Monsanto, the Gates Foundation, Philip Morris and all of the major biotechnology companies.

* 20 minutes after eating an Impossible Burger for the first time, a man Tweeted “went into anaphylactic shock & taken to ER.”

——

One of the biggest stories in the food world over the past few years has been the Impossible Burger, the plant-based burger that bleeds when you bite into it.

The goal of the Impossible Burger is to help make a dent in climate change by offering a plant-based burger that does not come from an animal. Animals require a tremendous amount of water and feed, and also produce greenhouse gases. Because the burger is made from plants, the other thing that the Impossible Burger would do is to help alleviate the killing of animals.

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A message from E3Live

"My Everyday, Must-Have Green Organic Aquabotanical"

The best testimonial that I can give is that I drink this every single day, as it impacts my mood in an incredibly positive way.

E3Live + BrainON is certified organic, fresh-frozen AFA (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) with a concentrated, aqueous, organic extract of Phenylethylamine and Phycocyanin.

Learn more.

Organic Insider

Must-Read

GMO Impossible Burger Tests Positive for Glyphosate

As Beyond Meat’s very successful IPO is bringing a lot of attention to the alt-protein category, it is important to take a look at what exactly are in these food products.

One popular name in this space is the Impossible Burger, a product we first wrote about in 2017 when Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents uncovered that the FDA disagreed with the company’s safety assessments of the burger’s main ingredient — soy leghemoglobin. However, the company continued selling it to the public anyhow without informing consumers about the FDA’s very serious concerns.

The issue this time around with the Impossible Burger is the amount of glyphosate that it contains.

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Organic Insider

Must-Read

The FDA/USDA/EPA launch a GMO Website, But the Bigger Plan is Much More Worrisome

This post originally appeared in Organic Insider. If you would like to receive Organic Insider every other Wednesday, you can sign up for it HERE.

If consumers are seeking fair and balanced information about GMOs, they certainly will not find it on the new FDA/USDA/EPA website called Feed Your Mind.

This site is part of the Agricultural Biotechnology Education and Outreach Initiative, which was funded by Congress, and is intended “to share science-based information that educates, informs and broadens understanding about agricultural biotechnology for consumers.”

Not surprisingly, it presents a very one-sided view of GMOs.

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