‘Cancer-causing’ weed killer is found in Honey Nut Cheerios, Quaker Oats and 24 more cereals
The Environmental Working Group tested 28 cereals, oatmeals and snack bars
It found that all of them had glyphosate, but 26 had levels deemed ‘unsafe’
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the most commonly used herbicide in agriculture
None of the products had levels above what is allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency
The World Health Organization and California have listed the chemical as carcinogenic
By MARY KEKATOS HEALTH REPORTER
DAILYMAIL.COM
24 October 2018
Dozens of cereals, oatmeals and snack bars contain trace amounts of a weed killer that has been linked to cancer, a new report says.
Released by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the report found 26 of 28 oat-based cereal products that were tested had ‘harmful’ levels of glyphosate, the main ingredient of Roundup.
Products included variations of Cheerios and Quaker Oats, including Honey Nut Cheerios, Quaker Oatmeal Squares Honey Nut, and Quaker Overnight Oats.
The weed killer was recently at the center of a trial in which a California jury found Roundup was responsible for giving groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson, 46, terminal cancer.
None of the products in the new report had levels above what is allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but the EWG argues that customers should be concerned that any levels are being detected in products consumed by children everyday.
In August, the EWG conducted its first study, which found the presence of glyphosate in 45 samples of breakfast cereals from producers Quakers, Kellogg’s, and General Mills.
On the heels of this study, the group wanted to dive further and test specifically Quaker Oats and Cheerios products, because high levels of glyphoste were found in the first study and they are two of the most popular cereal brands.
For the new study, the EWG purchased the products at grocery stores in San Francisco and Washington, DC, and had them tested at Anresco Laboratories in San Francisco.
Results of the samples showed glyphosate was detectable in all 28 products, and levels considered unsafe were found in 26.
The EPA caps glyphosate tolerance at 5.0 parts per million (ppm).
But the EWG’s health benchmark is much more conservative and says any level greater than 160 parts per billion (ppb) is not safe.
In the report, the highest level was found Quaker Oatmeal Squares Cereal Honey Nut, registering at 2,837 ppb.
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