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TAKE ACTION: Tell the EPA Inspector General to Protect Us from Glyphosate in our Food
If you were under the impression that our government is here to protect us, now is the time that we demand that they do so.
A blockbuster new report by Food Democracy Now! and The Detox Project shows that our health is in serious jeopardy because of the most widely used chemical in the world: glyphosate.
Glyphosate, the primary ingredient in Monsanto’s RoundUp, was was called a “probable human carcinogen” by the World Health Organization. This means that it probably causes cancer in humans.
Even more alarming is that 250 million pounds of it are used in the U.S. each year — on farms, lawns, parks and schools, among many other places.
New scientific evidence shows that probable harm to human health could begin at ultra-low levels of glyphosate at 0.1 parts per billions (ppb). This is 1,750 times lower than what the EPA currently claims is safe.
Popular foods tested by Food Democracy Now! and The Detox Project found that glyphosate measured between 289.47 ppb and at levels as high as 1,125.3 ppb.
Here are a few foods which were tested:
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
It’s important for individuals and parents to understand that glyphosate contamination cannot be removed by washing foods, and it is not broken down by cooking or baking. Furthermore, glyphosate residues can remain stable in food for a year or more, even if the foods are frozen or processed.
And while glyphosate is not allowed to be sprayed on organic farms, this does not mean that organic consumers don’t have to worry about this issue. We absolutely do.
Why is this?
One, farms only need to be chemical-free for 3 years before they can be certified organic. So, one could easily assume that glyphosate remains in the soil for much more than 3 years and is probably found in the soil of many organic farms. Two, when farms are sprayed with glyphosate, that doesn’t mean that the wind cannot carry it to organic farms nearby. Third, it was shown that glyphosate and its toxic by-product were found in 75% of our water and air samples.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
So far, our government has done almost nothing to protect us from glyphosate, and that must change immediately.
As such, we’re calling on the EPA Inspector General to investigate the agency’s failure to properly test and regulate glyphosate, end the practice of pre-harvest spraying of Roundup as a drying agent, and release ALL of the industry data submitted to federal agencies but kept hidden from the American public as “trade secrets.”
Please sign Food Democracy Now’s petition HERE.
Thank you so much for your concern.