Mexico has joined the growing list of 21 countries that have banned or restricted glyphosate. Mexico’s Environment Ministry is known as the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). They announced that glyphosate-based herbicides must be phased out by 2024 for the protection of human health and the environment.

In the United States, Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide. EWG says more than 250 million tons are used on American farmland each year.

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Given the scientific evidence of glyphosate toxicity, demonstrating the impacts on human health and the environment, the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) has taken important steps to gradually reduce the use of this chemical until it achieves a total ban in 2024.

Sustainable Pulse translated and published

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

Glyphosate is one of the most toxic, widely used weed-killers today. Glyphosate has been linked to changes in the gut microbiome, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, kidney disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and hormone disruption. While the International Agency for Research on Cancer has labeled glyphosate a probable carcinogen, the EPA maintains that it does not pose a threat to public health.

Glyphosate also poses an environmental threat. Studies have shown that glyphosate could pose a threat to the honey bee population, damaging their specialized bacteria in their gut. The damages caused to the bees have also shown to make the bees more susceptible to harmful pathogens, and affect their migration patterns.

This is likely just the tip of the iceberg. The effects of glyphosate on the environment and surrounding ecosystems are largely unknown, as not enough research has been conducted.

A new study has shown that going organic can reduce the levels of glyphosate, in both children and adults, by more than 70% after 5 days of eating organic.

It’s egregious that our government is allowing pesticide corporations to profit off of poisoning us when we know that organic farming works. These are chemicals that do not need to be in our bodies,” Klein said. “An entire system is invested in continuing pesticide intensive agriculture, while our farmers are fighting for pennies to do the research they need to support them to expand organic farming.

– Organic diets quickly reduce the amount of glyphosate in people’s bodies

Out of a total of 158 urine samples, 94% and 97% of samples tested positive for Glyphosate and AMPA, respectively. Children were shown to have nearly 5 times more glyphosate in their bodies than adults.

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

While glyphosate levels dropped radically after days on an all-organic diet, glyphosate can remain in the body through bone and bone marrow.

Additionally, the family’s organic diets were all varied and were essentially just organic versions of what they already ate. Imagine what their glyphosate levels would have looked like had they seen an increase in organic vegetable consumption, and were actively trying to detoxify from glyphosate.

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Glyphosate can still be found in organic food. There is glyphosate everywhere, in yards, school grounds, and parks all over the world. It’s unavoidable. If you’re concerned about your exposure to glyphosate, you should be living a lifestyle that promotes detoxification on a regular basis. We start off every day with a big salad, with lots of diversity, and drink lots of cranberry lemonade

We don’t really think about PLU stickers outside of the checkout line at the grocery store and the annoyance of peeling them off fruits and vegetables before we eat them. Even so, PLU stickers have managed to inspire confusion, prevent compost from being all it can be, and stay on top of the produce labeling game in spite of other, much more environmentally friendly options. There may be some things about these little labels that you haven’t thought of yet.

They Are Not Edible

The FDA has categorized both the stickers and the adhesive they use as safe to ingest. That categorization has led several articles saying it’s fine if you get a bite of sticker when you eat your food. But eating the stickers is like eating plastic wrap. In addition, the glues holding the stickers to the fruit are made of turpentine, petroleum, and urea-formaldehyde resins. The stickers won’t kill you if you eat them, but they definitely aren’t good for you.

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Stop Looking for 8s

For a while, there were rumors going around that PLU codes that began with an 8 indicated that the item labeled was a GMO. It turns out that there is a kernel of truth to that rumor…but that particular hack is not helpful for consumers.

Though the ‘8’ prefix (83000-84999) was once reserved for GMO produce items, the prefix was never used at retail.”

Independent Federation for Produce Standards

While this news is disappointing for those of us who were hoping to for an easy way to avoid GMOs, it make sense that most businesses wouldn’t make it that easy.

Composting Facilities Hate Them

PLU stickers are usually made of vinyl or another plastic film. These plastics are not biodegradable, and they’re not affected by the heat of compost piles. The small size of the stickers also enables them to escape most shredders and sifters, allowing the stickers to make it into finished compost. Sometimes facilities will have to purchase specialized equipment or even pay a picker to go through and find PLU stickers. Often times composting facilities will turn away massive loads of stickered, spoiled produce due to contamination issues.

PLU Stickers Are Voluntary

The federal government does not require PLU stickers. PLU sticker usage is driven by businesses. If it was cheaper or more effective to use another, more sustainable labeling system, PLU stickers would likely disappear quickly.

No, the PLU system is voluntary and based on business needs. It is not regulated by a governmental agency. Specifically, no regulatory body requires a PLU sticker on loose produce. Labeling produce with PLU codes are typically required by the retail industry to assist with point-of-sale (POS) identification.”

Independent Federation for Produce Standards

Lasers!

One solution to the problems of produce stickers involves lasering the label into the skin of produce. Laser labeling machines require more upfront investment than purchasing stickers, but once that initial investment is met, the process is actually cheaper. Dutch produce supplier and Swedish supermarket ICA ran a joint program that used laser technology to label avocados and sweet potatoes.

The calculations are that it costs the same, but sustainability for our consumers and ourselves is the biggest gain. I hope it will take off with more products and also non-organic. I can only imagine what a bigger retailer would be able to save. I really hope it spreads.”

Peter Hagg, ICA business unit manager

There is still work to be done on laser labels, as labels etched on citrus fruit are unreadable due to citrus peels’ regenerative qualities.

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Wash it Off

If you’ve ever wanted stickers to wash away, as opposed to cling forever, check out FruitWash. FruitWash is a solution posed by New York City engineer Scott Amron, and it consists of a label sticker that turns into an organic produce wash when washed in water.

Biodegradable and Compostable Options

In considering the issue of PLU stickers, there is the inevitable question…why not make these stickers biodegradable or compostable? Great news! These options already exist. Sinclair International, the largest fruit sticker company in the world offers a compostable option. Other companies also offer eco-friendly stickers. Businesses could eliminate massive quantities of food waste by switching to a biodegradable option, but they haven’t because compostable stickers are more expensive for them.

There are overall cheaper and more environmentally friendly fruit-labeling options than the one we are currently choosing. But these options require a larger initial investment, cost more money overall, or would necessitate the work of adapting a system that’s already in place. As a consumer, I find myself searching for stickerless options and fighting to peel off stickers before I put them in the compost bin while I wait for business to come to the realization that there are better ways to identify fruit.

Sources:

• The Truth about Fruit Stickers – Dirt Mag
• How Produce Stickers Contribute to Climate Change – CBC
• Those Little Produce Stickers? They’re a Big Waste Problem – Modern Farmer

Bayer has announced that they will settle approximately 75% of the approximately 125,000 lawsuits from plaintiffs who claim to have developed non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma due to Roundup exposure. The German pharmaceutical giant has been plagued with litigation regarding the world’s most used herbicide since it purchased Monsanto in 2018. Bayer issued a press release on Wednesday with the details of this move.

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

The company will make a payment of $8.8 billion to $9.6 billion to resolve the current Roundup™ litigation, including an allowance expected to cover unresolved claims, and $1.25 billion to support a separate class agreement to address potential future litigation.”

Bayer

Only three cases against Roundup have gone to trial. Each trial ended in a substantial decision for the plaintiffs, with monetary awards of $289 million, $80 million, and $2 billion. The newly announced settlements are subject to approval by Judge Vince Chhabria, who has previously upheld jury verdicts against the company and was also responsible for reducing $80 million in damages to $25 million. These previous jury verdicts are not part of the settlement agreement, and Bayer has indicated they will continue to appeal those cases.

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Forty-three thousand pounds of raw beef produced by Lakeside Refrigerated Services in New Jersey was recalled due to E.coli contamination. The beef was produced on June 1 and sold at Wal-mart. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced the recall on Saturday.

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FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers…Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.”

Food Safety and Inspection Service

The beef tested positive for E. coli O157: H7, a strain of E.coli that is responsible for 36% of the more than 265,000 STEC (Shiga toxin-producing E. coli) infections in the U.S. every year. The FSIS found the bacteria through routine testing and has not confirmed any adverse reactions to the contaminated beef.

The USDA recalled almost 700,000 pounds of beef in 2019. Previous years saw recalls of 13 million (2018) and 900,000 (2017) pounds of beef. In another year this recall would not be a big deal. However, the meat processing industry is still reeling from coronavirus and labor processing, and it is unclear how recalls will affect the food supply chain in 2020.

Sources:

• Over 40,000 pounds of ground beef recalled due to E. coli concerns – KSL
• Summary of Recall Cases in Calendar Year 2019 – USDA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to allow farmers who purchased dicamba-based products to use them this year, despite a June 3rd ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that canceled the product’s approval. Bayer’s XtendiMax, BASF’s Engenia, and Corteva Agriscience’s FeXapan can now be used in specific circumstances after the EPA received feedback from farmers who had already purchased the herbicides.

At the height of the growing season, the Court’s decision has threatened the livelihood of our nation’s farmers and the global food supply…Today’s cancellation and existing stocks order is consistent with EPA’s standard practice following registration invalidation, and is designed to advance compliance, ensure regulatory certainty, and to prevent the misuse of existing stocks.”

Andrew Wheeler, EPA Administrator

According to the order, distribution or sale of the dicamba-based herbicides are still prohibited unless for proper disposal or returns. Those who purchased the herbicides before the June 3rd cancellation are still able to use them. All of use of these systems must cease by July 31st.

The Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) have already filed a motion asking the Ninth Circuit Court to hold Wheeler and the EPA in contempt for allowing farmers to use the product in defiance of the court’s decision.

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It’s mind-boggling to see the EPA blatantly ignore a court ruling, especially one that provides such important protections for farmers and the environment…We’re asking this court to restore the rule of law at the Trump EPA.”

Stephanie Parent, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity

New studies testing oral immunotherapy have shown that gut health may play a large role in allergies, and gut microbes may be the solution to food allergies. Oral immunotherapy involves taking small doses of whatever food causes the allergic reaction, every day or a few times a week. Scientists believe that imbalances in beneficial bacteria are the root cause of food allergies.

But oral immunotherapy has downsides. The regimen can be nerve-racking, since it involves daily consumption of food that could kill. It doesn’t work for everyone and does little to fix the underlying disease. Success mostly means gaining the ability to safely eat several peanuts, for example, rather than reacting to a speck of peanut flour.

Gut Microbes May Be Key to Solving Food Allergies

Here at OLM, we’ve known about the connection between gut health and allergies for quite some time. Our experiences have shown that when the gut is healthy, allergies disappear. Check out this article to learn more about the connection between gut health and allergies, and information on how to heal the gut.

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