Natural News – by Isabelle Z.
The recent news that a number of non-GMO foods were found to be saturated with glyphosate weedkiller caught many people by surprise and left a lot of us wondering exactly how this could happen.
As reported on April 20 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, on Natural News, a sample of the Strawberries and Cream flavor of Quaker Instant Oatmeal was shown to contain a whopping 1,327.1 parts per billion (ppb) of glyphosate in testing at Microbe Inotech Laboratories, Inc.
The finding was shocking not only for the incredibly high level of the toxic chemical noted but also because oats are actually not genetically modified crops in the first place.
This highlights a fact that even many consumers who are pretty well-versed on organic and GMO food are not aware of: glyphosate is regularly sprayed on crops such as oats, wheat and barley just before harvesting as a desiccant. This is believed to boost their yield as well as their uniformity and save some time when it comes to harvesting.
Monsanto actually published a paper back in 2010 promoting the practice, showing photographs of how glyphosate can help with yield and uniformity.
Many people fall into the trap of assuming that glyphosate exposure is only an issue with GMO foods, but this is actually not the case, despite what Big Ag wants you to believe.
Major oat supplier refuses to give up glyphosate
General Mills recently made waves by announcing that Cheerios would become non-GMO. Some people were quick to point out that GMO oats do not actually exist, but the cereal did switch to non-GMO sugar. Nevertheless, their non-GMO are still likely contaminated with glyphosate, which has been declared a “probable” human carcinogen.
It’s not just General Mills, either. North America’s biggest oat supplier, Richardson Milling, recently stated it would continue to buy glyphosate-sprayed oats and sees no problems with the practice.
Never mind the fact that glyphosate has been illustrated time and time again to have a broad range of dangerous properties in addition to being a likely carcinogen.
Pre-harvest glyphosate spraying destroys health benefits of oats
Thankfully, not every supplier is on board with this practice. Minnesota-based Grain Millers recently announced that it would stop buying oats that were treated with glyphosate before harvesting.
They added that such oats tend to have a lower content of beta-glucan, which is a highly beneficial soluble fiber that strengthens the immune system, improves blood lipid profiles, and protects cardiovascular health. This fiber is actually the reason that many oat products can claim to be heart-healthy.
This is a vitally important fact to keep in mind as GMO labeling becomes more widespread. Seeing this label on food is better than not seeing it, but it does not mean that the food contains no glyphosate whatsoever.
This was illustrated by the aforementioned testing, which was commissioned by the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH-USA). In total, they found glyphosate in 11 of the 24 breakfast foods tested. The results can be found here. Oatmeal, whole wheat bagels and bread, creamers, and potatoes were all found to contain this poison.
ANH-USA’s Gretchen DuBeau said: “We decided to do this testing to see just how ubiquitous this toxin has become in our environment. We expected that trace amounts would show up in foods containing large amounts of corn and soy. However, we were unprepared for just how invasive this poison has been to our entire food chain.”
The bottom line is that we simply cannot rely on food labels to tell us the truth. The labeling laws are constructed in such a way that leaves a lot of room for deception, and Monsanto actually has an entire department that is devoted to discrediting scientists who speak out about the dangers of its products.
It has never been more important to grow your own food and take a serious look at what is actually inside the foods you buy. Not everyone has access to a lab there they can test their foods, but Mike Adams has tested more than 800 foods, as detailed in his book Food Forensics, in which he shares the results of his tests with readers so they can decide for themselves which foods to eat and which ones to avoid to bolster and protect their health.
The results of independent lab testing are becoming increasingly important as food manufacturers and their suppliers continue to try to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes and act like their food is perfectly healthy.
Sources include:
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/053828_non-GMO_foods_glyphosate_weedkiller_General_Mills.html#ixzz479E9TJoH