RoundUp Insecticide Found in Breakfast Cereals

Starting your day with a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and insecticide?

In a new study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), all samples of oat-based cereals tested were found to contain glyphosate, the key ingredient found in Monsanto’s (now owned by Bayer AG) RoundUp and other weed killers. The EWG sent 28 samples of cereals, including: Cheerios (multiple flavors), Quaker Oats (multiple flavors), Quaker Granola (multiple flavors), and Quaker snack bars (multiple flavors) for independent laboratory testing. All of the samples were found to contain glyphosate.

Some of the oat breakfast product samples with the highest amounts of glyphosate included:

Quaker Oatmeal Squares Honey Nut had the highest amount at 2837 parts per billion (ppb); 

Quaker Oatmeal Squares Brown Sugar—2746 ppb;

Quaker Overnight Oats Unsweetened with Chia Seeds—1799 ppb;

Cheerios Oat Crunch Cinnamon—1171 ppb;

Quaker Overnight Oats Raisin Walnut and Honey Heaven—1029 ppb; and

Quaker Breakfast Squares Soft Baked Bars Peanut Butter—1014 ppb.

General Mills and the Quaker Oats Company stand behind their products claiming that they are within the regulatory limits of what is safe for consumption. And, while the amounts are technically within the FDA limits, that’s only part of the story.

These new test results come on the heels of earlier findings that the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) own Pesticides Laboratory found 6.5 parts per million (ppm) on all of the crackers, granola and cornmeal it tested, which is 30 percent higher than the agency’s maximum allowable amount of 5.0 ppm. While the results were clearly higher than the FDA’s own standards, it did not release the test results to the public (they were unearthed during a lawsuit against Monsanto), publish any public health warnings, issue any demands to reduce the amounts of the pesticides used on food crops, and did not demand that the products be pulled from the marketplace.

While the FDA considers 5 parts per million as the maximum allowable safe amount for human consumption, the amount is not supported by any research. The agency could easily have thrown darts at a dart board as a means to determine the so-called safe amount. That’s because there has never been an amount of glyphosate that has been scientifically deemed safe. Glyphosate is considered by the World Health Organization(WHO) to be a probable carcinogen after the agency reviewed approximately 1000 studies on glyphosate’s effects on health.

Glyphosate is also a well-documented hormone disruptor. As is the case with many hormone disruptors, even minuscule amounts can throw off the human body’s delicate hormonal balance, which may lead to a host of health problems. It is unclear how the FDA ever established a supposed “safe” amount of this highly toxic chemical. And, while General Mills and the Quaker Oats Company cite the FDA limits as their rationale for the glyphosate found in their products, it is certainly not an ethical response to the test results.

A more appropriate response might have been that they will be taking measures to reduce the glyphosate contained in their products. But, as consumers we’ll just have to wait for the companies to do the right thing. It seems that corporate social responsibility is lacking. In the meantime, it’s a good idea to make the switch to certified organic oat-based cereals and bars to ensure you’re not ingesting the toxic weed killer.