If you are considering whether or not it is worth it to source of organic food products, the most important environmental toxin that you should be considering is glyphosate (pronounced glai·fow·sait). This chemical is the main ingredient in the popular pesticide Roundup. Foods that contain traces of glyphosate are abundant within our food system, and it can be difficult to know how to avoid (especially because pesticides are NOT listed on ingredient lists).
Go here to skip forward and learn tips on how to avoid glyphosate in your daily life; and go here for glyphosate-free product recommendations for the most common products that are likely to be contaminated with glyphosate.
In a 2017 study, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found trace amounts of Glyphosate in roughly 30 percent of food products it tested, and residue levels above recommended limits in almost 4 percent of grain products. Products tested and the respective percentages of those found to have glyphosate are as follows: fresh fruits and vegetables (7.3%); processed fruits and vegetables (12.1%); grain products (36.6%); juice and other beverages (16.3%); bean/pea/lentil products (47.4%); soy products (11%); infant cereal (31.7%); and infant food (30.7%).
What is Glyphosate?
Although glyphosate was originally patented as a herbicide to kill pests and weeds in 1974 by Monsanto, glyphosate is used widely in North America as a pesticide for crops. In 2014, it was reported that more than 25 million kilograms of glyphosate was sold across Canada. The chemical is frequently sprayed in fields prior to planting, or on GMO food crops (which have been genetically modified to resist glyphosate).
The pesticide is also popular for home lawn and garden use. My parents garden a bit over the summer in raised beds beside their home. When I first began to learn about this common pesticide, I was willing to bet money my dad used Roundup on the lawn. He comes from a farming family in Saskatchewan and is no stranger to harsh chemicals. He also prides himself on the quality of his lawn, and I have personally seen him spend many late nights moving around sprinklers in the summer. I phoned up my mom to ask and was glad to learn that, while my dad was a heavy Round Up user in the past, he had not used the product in many years. What a relief!
The Health Effects of Glyphosate
While a 2017 report by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency states that they consider traces of glyphosate below their recommended levels to be totally fine, the American Cancer Society advocates that the pesticide is “probably carcinogen to humans.” The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer also classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen in 2015, although it reversed its position a year later.
Sure, reports on the link between glyphosate and cancer are mixed. However, there is no doubt that large exposures to glyphosate have consequences, such as in the case of Dewayne Johnson who was exposed to the toxin while working as a grounds-keeper and later went on to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As reported in 2018, Johnson won a case for $289 million against Monsanto based on the allegation that Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer caused his terminal cancer.
Why Might Glyphosate Cause Cancer?
Glyphosate has been found to have anti-microbial properties (it was even patented as an antibiotic by Monsanto in 2010). While antibiotics are sometimes necessary when you have a bacterial infection, they work by killing off all bacteria (good and bad) in the body. Given that glyphosate has these properties, a 2020 study theorized that when glyphosate enters your body it kills off some of the plethora of beneficial bacteria that inhabit your digestive tract and creates space for pathogenic bacteria to take hold—leading to an imbalanced microbiome, or what some refer to as ‘dysbiosis’ in the gut.
Imbalances of the human microbiome are widely recognized to negatively impact one’s health: from weakened immune response, to weight gain, depression, anxiety, hormone imbalances, and even the inability to process and remove toxins from the body (meaning that ongoing and high levels of glyphosate exposure can further impede one’s ability to detox not only glyphosate but also other environmental toxins).
You could argue that small exposures to glyphosate here and there could not throw the microbiome so out of whack that it would have health implications. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, for example, says that trace amounts of this substance in our food system is not a risk to human health. However, it is also important to think about the various exposures to environmental toxins we have on a daily basis (from BPA in plastics, to PFOA/PFTEs in waterproof rain gear and non-stick cookware, and flame-retardant chemicals in furniture, blinds, and rugs), as well as the ongoing and sustained exposure we have to glyphosate daily in our non-organic food and in our environment (e.g. parks and lawns sprayed with Roundup).
If glyphosate can be avoided or reduced in our daily consumption (and it absolutely can!), then to me it makes sense to at least try. I personally believe this is one of the most important environmental toxins to avoid when it comes to making food choices, as it is so prevalent within our food system and has an obvious negative effect on our gut microbiome.
How to Avoid Glyphosate Now
While glyphosate is abundant in our environment, there are a lot of simple and incremental changes we can make in our daily lives to reduce our exposure to this chemical. Every little bit counts, and you don’t have to avoid it completely to still gain the health benefits of reducing your exposure.
Here are a few key, affordable ways to avoid glyphosate now:
Buy organic when possible, especially grains and legumes
- In terms of produce, you can always look at the Dirty Dozen list produced by EWG if you want to keep the grocery bill down—things like onions I often buy non-organic because I figure I’m peeling them first, it all depends on though and the Environmental Working Group’s “dirty dozen” list helped me to sort through this!
- Non-organic grains and legumes are the most likely to contain traces of glyphosate, so when possible look for organic chickpeas, oats, flour, soy, etc. There are specific product recommendations below.
Don’t get fooled by green-washing & read labels carefully
- While products listed as “organic” is unlikely to contain glyphosate, other labels such as “non-GMO” and “natural” are frequently mentioned on food labels and these labels do not require companies to ensure their products are glyphosate-free.
- If you’re not sure, you can contact the company. I did this with one company I wasn’t clear on, and the person got back to me with a vague answer about how their current supplier was “transitioning” to organic. I decided to forgo this brand as I believed their product was sprayed with glyphosate and they were strategically avoiding the question. Also, after a transition to organic there would be a few years there where you’d want to test and make sure glyphosate residues aren’t still on the crops if the same fields are being used.
- Many oat brands are undergoing the transition to organic or glyphosate-free and noting this on their packaging, sometimes with a “glyphosate free” label. I believe this is because there is an increasing awareness of glyphosate amongst customers. It takes the action of consumers advocating for products that do not contain glyphosate for companies to change, so sending an email to a company to ask about glyphosate might also help to convince companies to seek out glyphosate-free alternatives to maintain their customer base.
Eat Gluten-Free
- Some theorize that people respond well to gluten-free diets because of the frequent presence of glyphosate in products containing gluten such as non-organic flours, breads, and pastries. If you find it works for your body, eating gluten-free is an easy and cost-effective way to avoid these products in your diet.
Avoid lawns that don’t have weeds
- If you don’t see clovers, dandelions, or other weeds growing on a lawn, this undoubtedly means it has been sprayed with Round Up or a fertilizer containing glyphosate. Golf courses, garden attractions, as well as some parks are likely to do this. Be especially careful letting children and pets near these lawns as they are more likely to get closer to the lawn with their face and hands.
Use organic and fish-safe fertilizers and pesticides when possible.
- Skip the Round-Up.
Product Recommendations
Rice
Lundberg Family Farms (grown in California, also has lower arsenic levels)
Gluten-free flours
Soleil, which can be purchased here at well.ca
Wheat flours
Rolled oats
One Degree Organic Foods Gluten-Free Sprouted Rolled Oats (third party verified glyphosate free by “Biochecked”)
Organic oats by Grain Millers which are glyphosate-free (I emailed the company to confirm) can be found in bulk at some grocery stores. You can email the company here to source them out locally, and to confirm they are still free of glyphosate.
Beans
While some argue there are no safe chickpeas, Eden Organic chickpeas which are grown in the U.S.A. were tested and found to be glyphosate-free. I trust their other dried beans as well.
If you prefer canned beans, Eden Foods coats their cans with an enamel so you don’t have to worry about BPA plastics inside these cans either.
If you can source out other organic brands of beans grown in North America I would feel safe eating these too, but I might email the company first to confirm.
Crackers and breads
Look for crackers or wraps, etc., that are made with organic ingredients especially organic wheat
Silver Hills makes organic bread and wraps.
Fertilizer and Pest Control
Safer Brand makes affordable and low chemical fertilizers, I found some at Canadian Tire to tackle an aphid problem I was having on my patio garden.
You can also look up recipes for natural fertilizers (such as coffee grounds) and pesticides (neem oil, vinegar, etc.) that can be used for organic growing.
