ABBOTSFORD, BC -- A new survey from One Degree Organic Foods, a family-owned company committed to total food transparency, reveals a significant gap in consumer education and awareness when it comes to the world's most widely used pesticide2 – glyphosate, the main active ingredient in herbicides like Roundup – even amongst those trying to limit their pesticide exposure.
The survey3 of Canadian and American consumers commissioned by One Degree Organic Foods reveals that while the majority of North Americans say they are trying to limit pesticide exposure, both in the foods they buy (69%) and in home lawn care (53%), the vast majority (81%) are still not aware of glyphosate, despite recent news-making lawsuits alleging that exposure to the pesticide caused cancer in plaintiffs. The pesticide's use is so prevalent that a recent study found that one-third of American newborns had glyphosate in their bodies.4
While efforts are underway to lessen exposure in home lawn care, with Bayer set to replace all glyphosate-based products, such as Roundup, for the U.S. residential market with non-glyphosate alternatives beginning in 2023, exposure to glyphosate is increasingly found in the food we consume. A Canadian Food Inspection Agency report5 found 90 percent of pizza, 88 percent of wheat flour, 84 percent of crackers, 84 percent of fresh pasta, 83 percent of cooked pasta, 80 percent of dried pasta, 75 percent of oats, 70 percent of chickpea flour, and 67 percent of lentils samples to contain glyphosate. Similarly, a report5 from the Environmental Working Group found glyphosate in more than 95 percent of popular oat-based food samples.
Since many of the foods contaminated with glyphosate are oat-based products like oat cereals, oatmeal and granola, One Degree Organics takes its responsibility to deliver a product free of glyphosate incredibly seriously. While organic farmers are currently not allowed to use synthetic herbicides, drift can still occur from neighboring fields, causing organically grown crops to become contaminated. In addition to using non-GMO and certified organic ingredients from farmers they know and trust, One Degree Organic Foods products go through rigorous and regular testing to take that trust one level further to confirm its products are also free of glyphosate contamination due to drift and display the third-party verified BioChecked Non-Glyphosate Certified Seal.
"For many the last two years have led to a better understanding and appreciation of the connection between nutrition and health," says co-founder of One Degree Organic Foods Stan Smith. "Yet, even as many consumers are now prioritizing better-for-you options, this gap between concern and knowledge persists – in fact, our survey results show that levels of awareness about glyphosate have barely shifted since 2020, despite the recent high-profile attention. As a company committed to total transparency and sustainable production practices, I believe we have an opportunity to do right by those consumers who are themselves seeking better."
Once learning more about glyphosate, 90 percent of survey respondents do say they are "very concerned" about glyphosate in their food and 88 percent of respondents said they were much more likely to buy a product if they knew it was third-party verified free from glyphosate.
The survey also found that while fruits and vegetables are high on consumers' lists of watch-out foods for pesticides (89% of consumers look for labels to limit exposure), awareness is lower (only 48%) in the grains category despite the fact that glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in U.S. agriculture and used on more than 100 food crops, including oat-based products like cereals and bars.
The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen. Even legally approved pesticides can be carcinogens; a 2010 report by the President's Cancer Panel concluded that pesticides were associated with numerous types of cancers, including brand, pancreatic, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma, colon, testicular and soft tissue sarcoma.
Source : Cision