Moms Across America reveals alarming levels of glyphosate and pesticides found in top 20 fast food brand meals

ASHEVILLE, NC, octubre 11, 2023 - Moms Across America, a national nonprofit, today announced the results of testing for Glyphosate and pesticides in America’s fast food.

The educational nonprofit has initiated an extensive testing program on the country’s top twenty, highest grossing fast food brands, as listed by the QSR50, in addition to California’s In-N-Out Burger, which is ranked #33. Forty-two samples of 21 brands were tested for the most widely used herbicide in the world, glyphosate, 236 agrochemicals, 4 heavy metals, PFAS, phthalates, and mineral content. The top ten brands were additionally tested for 104 commonly used veterinary drugs and hormones, B Vitamins, and calories.

On Monday, octubre 9, Moms Across America reported alarming levels of veterinary drugs and hormones found in meals served at the top 10 most frequented fast food restaurants. Today’s report reveals results for the glyphosate and pesticide portion of the testing program.

Glyphosate results summary:

• 100% of the top 20 ( +1) fast food brands contained alarming glyphosate residues.
• Studies show that .1 ppb of glyphosate causes animal liver and organ damage.
• The highest levels detected- 213.58 ppb and 225.53 ppb, totaling 439.11 in two samples- were in Panera Bread, a self-proclaimed proprietor of "good food" and "clean, wholesome foods."
• The second highest levels of glyphosate were found in Arby's sandwiches- 124.2 and 99 ppb, totaling 223.33 ppb. Dairy Queen and Little Caesar’s were nearly tied for third highest, at 126 ppb and 128 ppb total glyphosate detected, respectively.
• The lowest levels were found in Chipotle meals, totaling 4.65 ppb for both samples, which is 94.4 times lower than the highest levels, 439.11 ppb, detected in Panera Bread. Chipotle was one of the first fast food restaurants to advertise non-GMO and organic ingredients.
• Next lowest were Panda Express and McDonald's at 4.75 and 5.58 ppb, respectively.The total amount of glyphosate detected in 42 samples was 2089 ppb, a level over 20,000 times higher than the amount (.1 ppb) that has been found to cause severe organ damage, specifically liver disease, in animal studies (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-014-0014-5.).

The full lab report on glyphosate and AMPA can be found here.

Pesticide results summary:

• 76% of fast food brands contained at least trace levels of 27 different kinds of harmful pesticides.
• Los niveles más altos se encontraron en las pizzas Domino's y Pizza Hut.
• The “healthier” fast food companies, Panera Bread, In-N-Out and Chipotle, all had either trace or detectable and concerning levels of pesticides.
• The side effects from these pesticides in animal studies include symptoms such as loss of balance, irritable behavior, gut dysbiosis, metabolic disorders, coma, and death.

The full lab report of pesticide results can be found here.

“Moms Across America is concerned about the risk of consuming fast food, as the levels of glyphosate and pesticides found in these popular fast food brands may be a significant contributing factor to the rise of liver disease and organ damage in America,” said Zen Honeycutt, Founder and Executive director of Moms Across America. “Even more concerning are the potential effects of children eating school lunches provided by fast food brands on a daily basis.”

Commissioned by Moms Across America and its supporters, Children’s Health Defense and the Centner Academy, the Fast Food Testing Program tested two types of samples- three to four meals of each type- from each of 21 locations across the United States. Samples were shipped to the Health Research Institute in their original packaging, untouched and frozen.

Moms Across America is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
For press inquiries, contact Mara Quigley, Steve Allen Media at [email protected] or 661.255.8283