The Roundup Chemical Found Responsible for Cancer Might Also Be in Your Cereal

Glyphosate—deemed “probably carcinogenic”—sticks around on snacks and breakfast foods.

etienne voss/Getty

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

In a landmark ruling last Friday, a California Superior Court ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages to a groundskeeper after a jury agreed that a key chemical in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide was a significant cause of his terminal cancer. The jury also found that Monsanto “acted with malice” in failing to warn him about the potential health effects of the chemical, glyphosate. The ruling paves the way for hundreds of similar cases pending across the country.

Farmers and landscapers the world over use glyphosate to kill weeds, but the chemical has long been controversial. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a part of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” and again defended that report this year. In 2017, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment added it to their list of cancer-causing chemicals. 

And a series of independent studies in the past few years have revealed that small amounts of glyphosate residue end up on the packaged food sold in every aisle of the grocery store. “I have brought wheat crackers, granola cereal and corn meal from home and there’s a fair amount in all of them,” wrote a Food and Drug Administration researcher in an email last year, according to the Guardian.

A report released this morning by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) focused specifically on residue in food products containing oats. It found that many common breakfast cereals and snacks contain levels of glyphosate that it deems harmful, though the Environmental Protection Agency may not.

The EPA, which considers Roundup “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans,” deems an exposure rate of 2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day acceptable. EWG, however, calculates that the highest permissible level of exposure, based on the Food Quality Protection Act’s margin of safety for childhood risk, is 0.01 milligram per kilogram of body weight per day.

The EWG tested 29 products, including Cheerios and Quaker Oats granola bars, and found that many of them surpassed the level of glyphosate residue the organization deems safe. The study has limitations: The researchers relied on a small sample size and acknowledged there is a possibility of cross-contamination from nearby crops where the oats were grown. But given that these small amounts of residue accumulate, especially when delivered through foods as ubiquitous as breakfast cereals, the study suggests that parents may have a reason to be cautious.

“That does not mean, ‘Stop eating this bowl of Cheerios right now!’ But then when you think about how people eat these oats,” says Olga Naidenko, senior science adviser at the EWG, “that’s when those numbers start to come into concern.”

An FDA scientist presented data in 2016 that showed glyphosate on several packaged oat products, including some for infants. An independent report by Food Democracy Now also points to Cheerios as containing higher amounts of glyphosate, though not at levels that the EPA would identify as unsafe. 

When reached for comment, both Quaker Foods and General Mills, which markets Cheerios, responded that their products are safe, citing the EPA’s acceptable levels. 

“Our products are safe and without question they meet regulatory safety levels. The EPA has researched this issue and has set rules that we follow as do farmers who grow crops including wheat and oats,” wrote General Mills spokeswoman Kelsey Roemhildt in an email. “We continue to work closely with farmers, our suppliers and conservation organizations to minimize the use of pesticides on the crops and ingredients we use in our foods.”

An email from a Quaker Foods spokesperson notes similar reasoning: “Any levels of glyphosate that may remain are significantly below any limits and well within compliance of the safety standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Commission as safe for human consumption.” 

Monsanto (which is now owned by Bayer) maintains that glyphosate does not cause cancer, and intends to appeal the California court’s decision. 

This post has been revised.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate