In my last post, I explained why a crusted baguette in Paris hits your gut differently than a slice of Wonder bread in the USA. It’s a combination of factors:
– Differences in varieties of grains (soft white wheat (lower gluten) in Europe vs hard red wheat (higher, denser gluten structure) in USA)
– Differences in fermentation and processing
– Huge differences in additives allowed in the USA
– And possible glyphosate contamination in the wheat.
It seems that glyphosate contamination isn’t a big deal since only about 3% of the wheat acreage is said to be sprayed with pre-harvest glyphosate to desiccate all the unripe wheat and kill the green weeds so that the wheat can be harvested before the next rain. But is that true? How much glyphosate is really in our food supply? Has glyphosate residue in foods been studied?
Well, it has been studied by several different groups and agencies. So here’s the data on what we know about glyphosate in the food supply.
Glyphosate Is in Nearly Everything – Especially American Staples
Reports are coming from several different directions. Independent labs and government agencies have all published studies to tell the same story: Glyphosate residue is widespread in the conventional food supply, especially in grain-based food products. When we compare them with the U.S. EPA’s high standard of 30 mg/kg for wheat, or 30 ppm, it doesn’t look so bad. But if we look at the standards for some of the other foods in our food chain, it’s pretty concerning.
Why Is the U.S. Limit For Wheat 300X Higher Than For Vegetables?
The standards between foods in our food supply are so different that we should take a closer look at this. Take a look at the screenshot of the standards set by the EPA of glyphosate residue on different foods in the USA. Most of them are 0.1 or 0.2 mg/kg. But for wheat the upper tolerance is 30 mg/kg. Flax seeds, dry beans and lentils are 5.0, soybeans are 20 (not shown), sunflower seeds are 85 mg/kg. Rice is 0.1, fruiting vegetables are 0.1, sesame seeds are 0.1, pineapple is 0.1, and the other vegetables that are not 0.1 have an upper tolerance of 0.2 mg/kg. Why do most grains and beans get a pass with higher numbers?
The High Tolerances for Glyphosate in Wheat is to Protect Big Ag, Not Little You
It looks like the U.S. EPA sets glyphosate maximum residue limits (MRL) based on industry-submitted data and agricultural feasibility, not public health and safety. A 30,000 ppb limit on wheat isn’t protecting you – it’s protecting the practice of spraying GMO crops repeatedly as weed control. Glyphosate is used in fallow ground and as a pre-emergent herbicide on wheat crops. Most of this should not end up in the wheat grain, but enough gets through somewhere to cause widespread contamination of our grain food supply with glyphosate. Maybe some of it is from the few acres of desiccated wheat. They may say it isn’t that, but it surely is leaking into our food system.
Levels of Glyphosate in the Food Supply
Glyphosate Residues in Wheat and Beans: Insights from Canadian Retail Market Data
In a large comprehensive study by Kolakowski et al. in 2020, the researchers analyzed 7,955 food samples for a glyphosate residue. This was in the Canadian retail markets between 2015 and 2017. Their research showed that grains on legumes like wheat and beans were the most significant sources of exposure.
In grain-based products:
– 77% of the wheat flour samples had glyphosate residue.
– 79% of pasta samples were positive for glyphosate
– 86% of oatmeal samples had detectable levels of glyphosate.
They were generally below the Canadian Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs). But then again, these MRLs are much higher than for other food products, so that isn’t reassuring. For dry beans and legumes, the residues were present in 40-50% of the samples for beans, lentils, and chickpeas.
Interesting enough, of the 204 soy products that were checked, only 20 of them had any glyphosate residue in them. Soy products were cleaner than some of the other products in the food system.
The use of glyphosate for weed control in these large field crops is likely the main reason for the residue being present in these crops. Perhaps pre-harvest desiccation also plays a role.
Sporadic Glyphosate Detection in Fruits and Vegetables
Unlike grain food products, glyphosate residues in fruits and vegetables are far less prevalent, as shown in reviews by Suarez et al. (2021) and Vicini et al. (2022). These reviews take a look at monitoring data around the world that have found low and inconsistent detection of glyphosate in fruits and vegetables.
Suarez et al. noted that the EU-wide surveillance found residues in only 6-30% of fruits and vegetables, with levels typically below 300 parts per billion, with rare exceptions that exceed the MRLs. Occasionally an apple or a citrus product or some leafy greens test positive, but it seems to be more trace amounts that are due to drift from a nearby crop or water contamination.
Kolakowski et al’s Canadian data lines up with this too, showing that there’s very minimal positive tests in fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. So there may be other pesticides and herbicides on fruits and vegetables, but not glyphosate.
Glyphosate in Honey and Absence in Animal Products
I would not have thought of looking for glyphosate in honey, but it actually can happen. In a study by Berg et al. in 2018, they looked at samples of honey from hives on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.
On the western half of the island that was more agricultural, they found residues of glyphosate. In the rainy half that was not very agricultural, there were no samples with glyphosate residue in them. In fact, the more large scale agriculture in proximity to the hives, and, to a lesser extent, golf courses and roads (which had glyphosate applied to the roadsides), the higher the chance of finding glyphosate residues in the honey.
It’s worth mentioning too that glyphosate is very rarely detected in animal products. None of these studies found that there were residues in milk, eggs, or meat. It doesn’t bioaccumulate in livestock.
The 70% Drop: Proof That Organic Works
One way to make sure that dietary exposure of glyphosate is the main route that we’re getting it is to put it to the test. A 2020 peer-reviewed study by Fagan et al did just that.
They switched 16 people from four racially diverse families from four locations: Oakland, CA, Minneapolis, MN, Baltimore, MD, and Atlanta, GA. Each family had between three to five members. After 1 week of testing on a conventional diet, they all switched to a 100% organic diet for one week. And here’s the results: urinary glyphosate levels dropped by more than 70%. Levels of the main metabolite of glyphosate (AMPA) also dropped by more than 70%. This was true for both adults and children. Take a look at this figure, which speaks for itself.
Fig. 2. Average urinary levels of glyphosate and AMPA by day. Average levels of glyphosate (A) and AMPA (B) for all subjects are plotted by day. Days 2 through 6 correspond to the period during which subjects consumed a diet of conventional food. Days 8 through 12 correspond to the period during which subjects consumed a diet of certified organic food. Days 1 and 7 were transition days and were not included in the analysis.
This experiment just measured the results from glyphosate, but many other pesticides and herbicides were also eliminated.
So going organic got rid of all kinds of exposures to herbicides and pesticides. You can think of it like this: conventional food equals death by a thousand paper cuts. Organic food equals removing the blade.
Here’s What You Can Do (Without Moving to France)
1. Go organic for grains – wheat, oats, rice, corn. This is where glyphosate hides. We have emphasized organic grains for years now because of the glyphosate issue.
2. Read labels – look for “USDA Organic.” Eating organic will without question reduce your exposure to chemicals.
3. Support regenerative farmers – These farmers aim to improve soil and reduce herbicides by collaborating with nature.
4. Vote with your wallet – every organic purchase and support for regenerative farming sends a message. If we don’t buy it, they won’t grow it. It’s that simple.
Now, About That Bread…
We started by saying that bread in Europe hits us differently (in a good way) compared to industrially processed bread in the USA. We wondered if glyphosate exposure in the food supply is a real thing. Yes it is, despite all assurances that exposure is minor and not to worry about it.
Wheat products and other grains are the main contributor—and there is some exposure in beans too. Going organic for grain products certainly makes sense.
It’s still uncertain how bad this exposure is for people, but glyphosate can act as an endocrine disruptor even at very low levels—so this is very concerning. Turns out that wholesome bread is organic bread.
