Report: FDA Finds Weedkiller Glyphosate in Common Foods

Internal emails from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration obtained by The Guardian show the agency had found traces of a chemical herbicide in common food items. The FDA was testing food samples for glyphosate, the active ingredient in weedkillers, for “two years, but has not yet released any official results,” the newspaper reports. “I have brought wheat crackers, granola cereal, and corn meal from home and there’s a fair amount in all of them,” an FDA scientist wrote to colleagues in January 2017—noting that broccoli was the only food he tested that was glyphosate-free. Another FDA scientist found “over-the-tolerance” levels of the chemical in corn, and found glyphosate in honey and oatmeal. Documents show the agency “suspended testing after those findings” because they were “not part of its official glyphosate residue assignment.” While weedkillers with glyphosate, like Roundup, have been used on produce for more than 40 years, the FDA only started testing its affect in food recently. An agency spokesperson told The Guardian that it has not “found any illegal levels in corn, soy, milk, or eggs,” which it considers part of its “special assignment” for the chemical.