So far, at least 21 cereals, snack bars and granola made by Cheerios, Nature Valley and Fiber One contain glysophate according to a new study.
Glysophate is the chemical in Bayer-Monsanto’s weedkiller, Roundup, that has been linked to multiple types of cancers in the US.
Scientists at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found the ingredient in oat-based cereals made by General Mills and Fiber One at levels about what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deems safe.
The EWG warned that some of the cereals had more than five times the EPA’s 160 parts per billion of glysophate.
Since 2015, glysophate has been classified as a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (an arm of the WHO.)
But chemicals continue to show up in food in the US.
Both the EPA and consumer protection groups, like the EWG, have been attempting to get the chemical outlawed outright.
But it was been used for a long time on some of the most widely grown crops in the US such as corn and soybeans.
Honey Nut Cheerios, the second most popular cereal in the US, also made the list of EWG’s contaminated cereals.
Glysophate has been the subject of a rapidly increasing number of lawsuits against Bayer Monsanto.
People across the country are claiming that their long-term use of Roundup led them to develop cancers including lymphoma.
California courts have so far awarded over $2.2 billion in total to three plaintiffs in those lawsuits.
While their exposures were far greater than what people consuming these cereals would encounter (most likely) it should be noted the cereals are popular among children.
In the midst of the findings, General Mills preached that their “top priority is food safety,” according to CNN.
‘The only way to quickly remove this cancer-causing weedkiller from foods marketed to children is for companies like General Mills and Quaker to use oats from farmers who do not use glyphosate as a desiccant,” wrote the EWG study authors.
But the recent findings have only scratched the surface over the chemical.
It has since collected over 236,000 signatures on a petition that calls for major food companies to take better measures to protect consumer health.
EWG said the company, Bayer-Monsanto, “knew about the risks for decades and went to extraordinary lengths to cover it up.”
“As these latest tests show, a box of Cheerios or other oat-based foods on store shelves today almost certainly comes with a dose of a cancer-causing weedkiller,” said vice president for science investigations at EWG, Olga Naidenko, Ph.D.
Naidenko asked: “Does General Mills really want to keep using a chemical that independent scientists say causes cancer, made by a company that three juries have found guilty of covering up its health hazards? Or will they listen to the growing chorus of concerned consumers calling on General Mills and other companies to remove glyphosate from the cereals kids love to eat?”
To learn more about the harmful chemical, Glyphosate, the FDA answers your questions about its debated use.
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