The FDA found trace amounts of glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, “in a variety of oat products, including plain and flavored oat cereals for babies,” says a blog post by Carey Gillam of U.S. Right to Know. It appeared a day after European officials said they would release data from their assessment that glyphosate is “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans” and two days after a Monsanto-commissioned study said the herbicide was not a threat.
Decades ago, Monsanto developed GMO crops that tolerate spraying with glyphosate. The company, based in St. Louis, uses glyphosate as the main ingredient in its Roundup weedkiller. Farmers have embraced the biotech crops and the herbicide.
An EPA advisory panel of experts is to meet in mid-October to assess whether glyphosate is carcinogenic. The International Agency for Research on Cancer ignited a global debate in March 2015 when it classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” In an issue paper for the panel meeting, the EPA suggests the appropriate rating for the chemical should be “‘not likely to be carcinogenic to humans at doses relevant to human health risk assessment.”
The FDA began testing for glyphosate residues in food in February. At a meeting of chemists in Florida, an FDA chemist said tests of several types of oatmeal, including infant oatmeal, found residues in some of the products and none in others, said U.S. Right to Know. The highest amount was 1.67 parts per million. The EPA tolerance is 30 ppm for oats; the EU limit is 20 ppm.
Oats are not genetically engineered, says U.S. Right to Know. Some growers spray their fields with glyphosate shortly before harvest to dry down the crop (i.e. reduce moisture) and even out maturity for easier harvesting.
The European Food Safety Authority said it would release raw data from some of the scientific studies that it used in its review of glyphosate, completed seven months after the IARC report. It was not immediately clear how soon the material would be released, said Reuters. The EU’s administrative arm granted a temporary extension of its license of the herbicide in July, pending further scientific study. EU member nations were divided on a full-term extension of the license.
The study commissioned by Monsanto was published online by the journal Critical Reviews in Toxicology. A 15-member panel, assembled by Intertek Scientific and Regulatory Consultancy, concluded the herbicide is unlikely to cause cancer in humans, said Agri-Pulse.