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Australians are eating the RoundUp chemical \u2018glyphosate\u2019 for breakfast and parents are unknowingly feeding it to infants in baby food.<\/p>\n
The so-called \u2018safe\u2019 weed killer ingredient, which has been linked to cancer and sparked multi-million-dollar law suits, has been detected in grain-based foods by Australia\u2019s food standards agency.<\/p>\n
Glyphosate was found in multi-grain, wholemeal, spelt, rye and white breads, savoury biscuits and crackers, and rice-based breakfast cereals, flours and crackers in Food Standards Australia New Zealand\u2019s (FSANZ) latest Total Diet Survey.<\/p>\n
It was also found in infant baby cereal, which is a rice-based product usually offered as a first solid to babies learning to eat.<\/p>\n
Cereals and cereal products \u2013 in particular bread \u2013 was the \u201cmajor contributing food category to glyphosate dietary exposures\u201d for Australians, and for babies it was infant cereal.<\/p>\n
However the food standards agency said glyphosate levels were well below accepted dietary limits and concluded there was \u201cno public health and safety concerns for most substances\u201d.<\/p>\n
But the agency has come under fire for its unchanged position on safe levels of glyphosate amid mounting calls for Australian regulators to review the chemical\u2019s use and potential carcinogenic effects on people.<\/p>\n
Glyphosate, the active chemical in the weed killer RoundUp, is the most widely used herbicide in the world, with more than 6 billion kilograms applied over the last decade.<\/p>\n
In a recent landmark case, a US couple was awarded $2 billion damages when a California jury found their cancer was caused by exposure to RoundUp.<\/p>\n
About 13,400 US plaintiffs are suing the company Bayer, which bought RoundUp maker Monsanto, while a Melbourne gardener has launched Australia\u2019s first legal case and councils are re-assessing their use.<\/p>\n
Human exposure to glyphosate is not limited to RoundUp, the popular brand of backyard and commercial weed killer that consumers have been repeatedly told is safe by the company and government regulators.<\/p>\n
The chemical is also an active ingredient in more than 500 products approved for use in Australia, many of which can be found on supermarket and hardware store shelves and used by backyard gardeners.<\/p>\n
Of the weed killers on the shelves in Bunnings, for example, all but a couple of products from two brands \u2013 Brunnings and Richgro \u2013 listed glyphosate as an active ingredient.<\/p>\n
Public health academic Dr Bruce Armstrong, from the University of Sydney, said it was time for regulators to \u201cget real\u201d about glyphosate instead of \u201cpoint-blank denying the evidence\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the most important thing is for the regulator APVMA to stop saying there\u2019s no evidence that it causes cancer and get real and examine it so the public has confidence,\u201d Dr Armstrong said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first place we need to start is to work out why the regulator is making a decision that seems to go against the evidence produced by the International Agency for Research on Cancer which is the pre-eminent cancer research agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need to take expert international opinion seriously and carefully re-evaluate and do it in an open and transparent manner.\u201d<\/p>\n
https:\/\/thenewdaily.com.au\/news\/2019\/07\/20\/roundup-food-cancer\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Australians are eating the RoundUp chemical \u2018glyphosate\u2019 for breakfast and parents are unknowingly feeding it to infants in baby food. The so-called \u2018safe\u2019 weed killer ingredient, which has been linked to cancer and sparked multi-million-dollar law suits, has been detected in grain-based foods by Australia\u2019s food standards agency. Glyphosate was found in multi-grain, wholemeal, spelt, … <\/p>\n