Glyphosate in Hummus Test Results Report
Moms Across America
agosto 31, 2018

agosto 31, 2018 - Hummus es la merienda favorita para la mayoría de las personas que se consideran saludables. Aparentemente, la marca de hummus ahora se ha vuelto mucho más importante. Hoy, Moms Across America lanzó el resultados de pruebas de 10 muestras de hummus de 8 marcas mostrando niveles preocupantes de residuos de glifosato. Todas menos 1 de las muestras dieron positivo para niveles cuantificables. El glifosato se encuentra en Roundup, un herbicida popular de Monsanto, y se rocía comúnmente sobre garbanzos como agente de secado antes de la cosecha. El glifosato químico ha aparecido en numerosos titulares en las últimas dos semanas debido al veredicto en el juicio de Johnson v Monsanto. Johnson era un aplicador de pesticidas de la escuela y el jurado del gigante químico Monsanto le otorgó 289.2 millones de dólares por "malicia y opresión" u ocultar el hecho de que sabían que su herbicida de glifosato podría causar cáncer. Las marcas de hummus que dieron positivo para residuos de glifosato fueron Kirkland Signature, Sabra, Cedar's, Simply Balanced, Trader Joe's, Sadaf y Hope. El hummus orgánico de Lilly fue la única marca que tuvo un resultado no cuantificable para el glifosato.

Zen Honeycutt, Founding Executive Director of Moms Across America stated, “Glyphosate residues in hummus are not surprising, due to the farming practice of spraying garbanzo beans preharvest with glyphosate as a drying agent, but these results are terribly disturbing. The agriculture industry has known since 2015 that the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen. They had ample time to discontinue the practice of spraying this herbicide on their crops. We hope now, with these results and the verdict of the Johnson v Monsanto lawsuit, that the EPA will revoke the license of glyphosate and farmers will stop using harmful chemicals.”

Lilly’s Hummus representative stated that they source their garbanzo beans from organic farmers in California. When asked about the absence of glyphosate in their products they stated, regarding their suppliers, “They perform random field pre-checks on crops, and recognize glyphosate as one of the worst herbicides. We’re very gratified to produce a nourishing product safe for individuals and families free of this substance.”

Los resultados de las pruebas, que varían ampliamente desde no detectables en Lilly's hasta más de 30 ppb de glifosato (y su descomposición AMPA) en el hummus de Trader Joe's, apuntan a un rango de niveles de herbicidas de glifosato que se rocían en los cultivos. Claramente, las prácticas del proveedor de Lilly nos muestran que los garbanzos se pueden cosechar sin herbicidas de glifosato.

¿Por qué probar Hummus?

Moms Across America has been especially concerned about the presence of glyphosate in hummus, as the consumption of hummus, fueled by companies like PepsiCo, has risen dramatically over the past five years.  Hummus sales are expected to grow to 1.1 billion by 2022. Hummus is considered a healthy snack for children, a popular protein replacement for meat for vegetarians, and vegans, and is a go-to party food on college campuses. In addition, Canadian activist Tony Mitra released records of 7,800 glyphosate test result findings from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in 2017 in his book Poison Foods of North America. In those documents, results for glyphosate residues on garbanzo beans from North America had levels as high as 795 ppb. In other countries levels were, on average 32 ppb. Even organic garbanzo beans tested positive glyphosate residues, pointing to the problem of widespread contamination. Glyphosate herbicides have been found in rain, streams and irrigation water. The only way to prevent this problem is to revoke the license of glyphosate, a possibility the EPA has long been considering during its 9-year review of glyphosate for re-approval or denial.

Imagen de Poison Foods of North America por Tony Mitra

¿Es seguro el glifosato en Hummus?

Aunque algunos afirmarán que estos niveles no son lo suficientemente altos como para causar daño, los estudios han demostrado que solo 1 parte por billón aumenta la crecimiento de células de cáncer de mama.  También se ha demostrado que el glifosato bioacumularse en los huesos, la leche materna y los tejidos, por lo que considerar solo los niveles de ingesta diaria es una evaluación científicamente inexacta. Además, niveles muy bajos de glifosato han demostrado ser inseguros.

Glyphosate herbicides have also been proven to cause liver disease at ultra-low levels, be disruptive to hormones and reproductive organs, cause preterm births and fertility issues,  destroy beneficial gut bacteria which impacts the immune system, and to be neurotoxic. Honeycutt and MAA, initiators of the first glyphosate testing surveys in 2013 on tap water, children’s urine, and breast milk, have long been asking the EPA to revoke the license of glyphosate. The presence of glyphosate, which has been shown on its own to be harmful, also indicates the possibility of the presence of glyphosate herbicide co-formulants, which have been shown to be 1000X more toxic than glyphosate alone.

50-year plant pathologist Dr. Don Huber, Professor Emeritus at Perdue University commented on the results, “Garbanzo beans, and products prepared from them, are promoted as a highly nutritious food.  It is, in part, this nutritional component that can also indirectly make them highly toxic to many life forms including humans because of their incorporation of the mineral chelating and antibiotic herbicide glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup®).  Unlike agricultural practices prior to glyphosate where the garbanzo beans were cut and wind-rowed to dry prior to harvesting; it is now a common practice to desiccate non-organic garbanzo beans with the Roundup herbicide 2-3 weeks before harvest. Glyphosate is a highly water-soluble, systemic herbicide that accumulates in the maturing beans by chelating with the minerals contained there.  This practice of chemical desiccation has resulted in some of the highest levels of glyphosate being present in the beans and food products made from garbanzo beans analyzed by the Canadian Food Inspection Authority (CFIA) as reported in the book in Poison Foods of North America.  It is hard to justify a practice that introduces a probable carcinogen into the food chain that also is correlated with the near-epidemic increase in over thirty diseases.  The absence of AMPA, the primary degradation product of glyphosate, indicates the glyphosate itself is a very stable poison that is too common in our food and food products. I compliment Moms Across America for their vigilance in pointing out the need for safer production and harvest practices for our food commodities." 

Imagen de la hoja informativa sobre el uso de herbicidas antes de la cosecha de GRDC, que recomienda el herbicida glifosato como un "herbicida antes de la cosecha" en muchos cultivos. Otro uso para rociar justo antes de la cosecha es como agente de secado o "desecante", aunque muchas fuentes de noticias agrícolas en línea ya no recomiendan decir que esto es para lo que se usan los herbicidas.

El glifosato no se lava, seca ni cocina. 

Pero la EPA aprueba el uso de herbicidas con glifosato, ¿verdad?

Although EPA staffers claim glyphosate herbicides are proven safe, when asked by Honeycutt in 2015, “Do you have any long-term animal studies with blood analysis, on the final formulation of Roundup?” The EPA staffer answered, “No, not that we are aware of.” “Then how can you claim that it is safe?” Honeycutt asked. The EPA Pesticide Review Board director ended the meeting.

Honeycutt states, “The fact is that the EPA approves these pesticides and herbicides that are sprayed on our food crops based on studies on one ingredient in the products, not the final formulation, so any claims that these chemicals that we are feeding our family are safe, at any level, is scientifically unfounded. In fact, new studies show them to be extremely harmful, and therefore must be avoided. We hope all hummus brands will publicly state that they will only accept clean, non-glyphosate sprayed ingredients and that the EPA will do what they are charged to do-protect the American people and revoke the license of glyphosate.”

¿Qué tengo que hacer?

To avoid glyphosate as much as possible, purchase organic or biodynamic foods. Ask your favorite hummus brand to stop sourcing garbanzo beans sprayed with glyphosate. To reduce glyphosate in your body, a study from Africa shows that acetobacter degrades glyphosate, breaking it down into nontoxic components, causing the glyphosate molecule to be gone. Acetobacter is found in Apple Cider Vinegar, sauerkraut and kombucha. 

Los ciudadanos preocupados pueden comunicarse con el gerente de la junta de revisión de pesticidas de la EPA, Neil Anderson al [email protected].

PDF of this report here.

PDF of Hummus test results here.

Moms Across America es una organización 501c3 sin fines de lucro cuyo lema es Madres empoderadas, niños saludables.