The more time passes, the more we realize that we are forced to constantly pay attention to what we put on our plate, and this for a number of reasons, including the fact that substances that have no reason to be part of our diet are found in foods that we can consume daily.
Dangerous substances in our cereal bowl?
It turns out that no less than 28 popular oat cereal samples contain glyphosate, an active ingredient used in Monsanto's herbicide concoction called "Roundup", which has, in any case, been revealed following a study done by the environmental specialist group EWG just a few days ago and published by our colleagues from Fox News
The group also known in the defense of rights said Wednesday that he was able to note the presence of glyphosate in the 28 samples of oat products made according to conventional methods. It was also noted that only two of the samples had glyphosate levels well above what the body would be able to withstand. Thus, the cereals containing the most were those of Quaker brand Oatmeal Squares, which is 18 times higher than the threshold set as being harmless for children.
A spokesman for the EWG group says, "It's not because something is legal that it's safe. Government standards for pesticides in food are often obsolete and not based on the latest scientific research. The same goes for the reliability of EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) standards whose decisions are generally under pressure from the current food industry. "
Glyphosate, a dangerous substance?
In a report published in 2015 by the World Health Organization (WHO), the herbicide glyphosate, just like the insecticides Malathion and Diazinon are potentially carcinogenic to humans. The report also discusses the existence of some evidence that malathion can cause non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as well as prostate cancer. The researchers at the base of the study concluded that there is a "positivity ratio" between glyphosate and cancer, although these observations may be subject to interpretation, according to scientists.
In 2017, the California Environmental Assessment Office announced that glyphosate "is poised to be added to the list of chemicals recognized by the state to cause cancer. "
Scott Goldstein, a pediatrician at Northwestern Children's Practice, said, "Every time you come across a unique article like this, think about deepening your research. Only when the EPA or the American Academy of Pediatrics, or the Centers for Disease Control, discuss the removal of the Cheerios product will I really feel alerted. "
The reaction of cereal production
The two companies targeted by these "accusations" therefore reacted. On one hand, a Quaker spokesman said, "We are proud of the safety and quality of our products, knowing that we do not add glyphosate during the milling process ... And as the minimum amount of glyphosate remaining in our finished oat products is clearly below regulatory limits and clearly meets the safety standards set by EPA, the California Environmental Health Risk Assessment Board, Health Canada and as the European Food Safety Authority. We therefore believe that the EWG approach is impertinent and we insist that Quaker products tested by EWG are safe. Producing healthy foods has been our number one priority for more than 140 years. "
For its part, General Mills said in an official statement that "The company's top priority is food safety, since the company was founded 150 years ago ... The extremely low levels of pesticide residues mentioned in The latest press reports are only a small part of the amount authorized by the state. Consumers are often bombarded with alarmist articles, but rarely have the opportunity to verify the information on their own. "
