GM Watch
  • Main Menu
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Newsletter subscription
      • Daily Digest
      • News Reviews
      • News Languages
    • Articles
      • GM Myth Makers
      • GM Reports
      • GM Quotes
      • GM Myths
      • Non-GM successes
      • GM Firms
        • Monsanto: a history
        • Monsanto: resources
        • Bayer: a history
        • Bayer: resources
    • Videos
      • Latest Videos
      • Must see videos
      • Cornell videos
      • Agriculture videos
      • Labeling videos
      • Animals videos
      • Corporations videos
      • Corporate takeover videos
      • Contamination videos
      • Latin America videos
      • India videos
      • Asia videos
      • Food safety videos
      • Songs videos
      • Protests videos
      • Biofuel myths videos
      • Index of GM crops and foods
      • Index of speakers
    • Contact
    • About
    • Links
    • Donations
    • How donations will help us
News and comment on genetically modified foods and their associated pesticides    
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Newsletter subscription
    • Archive
      • 2018 articles
      • 2015 articles
      • 2017 articles
      • 2016 articles
      • 2014 articles
      • 2013 articles
      • 2012 articles
      • 2011 articles
      • 2010 articles
      • 2009 articles
      • 2008 articles
      • 2007 articles
      • 2006 articles
      • 2005 articles
      • 2004 articles
      • 2003 articles
      • 2002 articles
      • 2001 articles
      • 2000 articles
    • Daily Digest
    • News Reviews
    • News Languages
      • Notícias em Português
      • Nieuws in het Nederlands
      • Nachrichten in Deutsch
  • Articles
    • GM Myth Makers
    • GM Reports
    • How donations will help us
    • GM Quotes
    • GM Myths
    • Non-GM successes
    • GM Firms
      • Monsanto: a history
      • Monsanto: resources
      • Bayer: a history
      • Bayer: resources
  • Videos
    • Latest Videos
    • Must see videos
    • Cornell videos
    • Agriculture videos
    • Labeling videos
    • Animals videos
    • Corporations videos
    • Corporate takeover videos
    • Contamination videos
    • Latin America videos
    • India videos
    • Asia videos
    • Food safety videos
    • Songs videos
    • Protests videos
    • Biofuel myths videos
    • Index of GM crops and foods
    • Index of speakers
    • Glyphosate Videos
  • Contact
  • About
  • Links
  • Donations
SUBSCRIBE TO REVIEWS

GMO INFO

10 Questions About GM Foods
Do GMOs increase yields and reduce pesticide use, and are they needed to feed the world? Find out in the 16-page document, 10 Questions About GM Foods.

News Menu

  • Latest News
  • News Reviews
  • Archive
  • Languages

News Archive

  • 2018 articles
  • 2017 articles
  • 2016 articles
  • 2015 articles
  • 2014 articles
  • 2013 articles
  • 2012 articles
  • 2011 articles
  • 2010 articles
  • 2009 articles
  • 2008 articles
  • 2007 articles
  • 2006 articles
  • 2005 articles
  • 2004 articles
  • 2003 articles
  • 2002 articles
  • 2001 articles
  • 2000 articles

Please support GMWatch

Donations

You can donate via Paypal or credit/debit card.

Some of you have opted to give a regular donation. This is greatly appreciated as it helps place us on a more stable financial basis. Thank you for your support!

2014 articles

USDA report says pesticide residues in food nothing to fear

  • Print
  • Email
Details
Published: 22 December 2014
Created: 22 December 2014
Last Updated: 22 December 2014
Twitter

USDA fails to test for glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide, which is sprayed on over 80% of GM crops

While the USDA is not testing for glyphosate in foods, it will be left to citizens to set up their own testing program, similar to the recent breast milk project.

EXCERPT: As has been the case with past analyses, the USDA said it did not test this past year for residues of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide and the world's most widely used herbicide. A USDA spokesman who asked not to be quoted said that the test measures required for glyphosate are "extremely expensive... to do on an regular basis".
---

USDA report says pesticide residues in food nothing to fear

Carey Gillam
Reuters, 19 Dec 2014
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/19/usda-pesticides-report-idUSL1N0U325I20141219

More than half of food tested by the U.S. government for pesticide residues last year showed detectable levels of pesticides, though most were within levels the government considers to be safe, according to a report issued Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The USDA looked at fresh and processed fruits and vegetables as well as infant formula, apple juice, and other products.

Before allowing a pesticide to be used on a food commodity, the Environmental Protection Agency sets "tolerance levels," for how much of a pesticide can remain in the food that reaches the consumer. The USDA's sampling is designed to help ensure that pesticide residues are kept within those tolerance levels.
 
As has been the case with past analyses, the USDA said it did not test this past year for residues of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide and the world's most widely used herbicide.

A USDA spokesman who asked not to be quoted said that the test measures required for glyphosate are "extremely expensive... to do on an regular basis".

Concerns about glyphosate and other pesticide residues on food have been a hot topic of debate in the United States recently, and contributed to the passage of the country's first mandatory labeling law for foods that are genetically modified in Vermont earlier this year. Many states are pursuing similar labeling laws. Some local governments have also been trying to rein in pesticide use on food due to health concerns.

Many genetically modified crops can be sprayed directly with glyphosate, and some consumer and health groups fear glyphosate residues in foods are harmful to human health, even though the government says the pesticide is considered safe.

Last year, Monsanto Co, the developer of Roundup, requested and received EPA approval for increased tolerance levels for glyphosate.

The USDA said that for the pesticides that it did test for, 99 percent of the samples showed residue levels within tolerance levels. It said "over 40 percent" showed no detectable pesticide residue, and residues exceeding tolerance levels were seen in a mere 23 samples out of 9,990.

Additionally, residues of pesticides with no established tolerances were found in 301 samples, USDA said.

Of the total samples analyzed, there were 8,526 fresh and processed fruit and vegetable samples, 356 infant formula samples, 756 butter samples, and 352 salmon samples. There were also 14 groundwater samples and 100 drinking water samples taken, USDA said.

(Reporting By Carey Gillam in Kansas City, Mo.; Editing by Peter Galloway)

Menu

Home

News

News Archive

News Reviews

Videos

Articles

GM Myth Makers

GM Reports

GM Myths

GM Quotes

How Donations Will Help Us

Contacts

Contact Us

About

Facebook

Twitter

RSS

Content 1999 - 2018 GMWatch.
Web Development By SCS Web Design