Glyphosate: Germany's most popular beers contain Monsanto-produced pesticide linked to cancer

[nationalize the fed]

IBTimes.co.uk James Tennent
February 25, 2016

A pesticide that may cause cancer has been found in 14 of the most popular beers in Germany by the Environmental Institute, Munich. The pesticide, glyphosate, is produced by Monsanto and was classified in 2015 as probably carcinogenic to humans by the World Health Organisation (WHO).



The institute tested 14 of the best selling beers in Germany and found that all of them contained traces of glyphosate. The legal limit for traces of the pesticide in drinking water is 0.1 microgrammes per litre but the lowest level found by the institute was 0.46 microgrammes in the Bavarian Augustiner beers.

The highest level found was 29.74 microgrammes per litre in the Hasseröder brewery in Saxony-Anhalt.

Translated by thelocal.de, the Association of German Brewers released a statement saying that they had not seen the original study but that all of the levels cited were well below what is considered dangerous to health: "For an adult to consume unhealthy amounts of glyphosate, he would have to drink around 1,000 litres of beer a day. According to current scientific understanding, a glyphosate level of 30 micrograms per litre doesn't pose any health risk."

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup product, widely used in industrial agriculture. The WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has said that there are limited findings the chemical causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in humans and convincing evidence it causes cancer in lab animals...
Read More: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/glyphosate-germanys-most-popular-beers-contain-monsanto-produced-pesticide-linked-cancer-1546061

Obama in 2007: "We'll let folks know whether their food has been genetically modified because Americans should know what they're buying"

[Flying Squirrel]

1. Good thing I quit drinking 7 years ago.

[closeupready]

10. I drink occasionally, but not beer or liquor, so I've got it covered.

[ag_dude]

2. Glyphosate is not a pesticide.

[yellowcanine]

3. Well it is the active ingredient of herbicides and herbicides are pesticides.

EPA includes herbicides in the definition of pesticides and regulates them accordingly. One can argue that the pesticide includes more than the active ingredient so therefore the a.i. technically is not a pesticide but that is kind of a specious argument.

[ag_dude]

7. No its not

Nobody that actually works with Roundup refers to it as a pesticide and it is a tell that you are speaking with somebody who does not actually have a firm grasp on the subject when you hear somebody say that.

Go to any farm or Ag College in the world and refer to glyphosate as a pesticide and you will be immediately corrected.

[Zorra]

8. It is an herbicide, and an organophosphorus compound.

Neurotoxic disorders of organophosphorus compounds and their managements.

Organophosphorus compounds have been used as pesticides and as chemical warfare nerve agents. The mechanism of toxicity of organophosphorus compounds is the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, which results in accumulation of acetylcholine and the continued stimulation of acetylcholine receptors. Therefore, they are also called anticholinesterase agents. Organophosphorus pesticides have largely been used worldwide, and poisoning by these agents, particularly in developing countries, is a serious health problem. Organophosphorus nerve agents were used by Iraqi army against Iranian combatants and even civilian population in 1983 - 1988. They were also used for chemical terrorism in Japan in 1994 - 1995. Their use is still a constant threat to the population. Therefore, medical and health professionals should be aware and learn more about the toxicology and proper management of organophosphorus poisoning. Determination of acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase activity in blood remains a mainstay for the fast initial screening of organophosphorus compounds but lacks sensitivity and specificity. Quantitative analysis of organophosphorus compounds and their degradation products in plasma and urine by mass spectrometric methods may prove exposure but is expensive and is limited to specialized laboratories. However, history of exposure to organophosphorous compounds and clinical manifestations of a cholinergic syndrome are sufficient for management of the affected patients. The standard management of poisoning with organophosphorous compounds consists of decontamination, and injection of atropine sulfate with an oxime. Recent advances on treatment of organophosphorus pesticides poisoning revealed that blood alkalinization with sodium bicarbonate and also magnesium sulfate as adjunctive therapies are promising. Patients who receive prompt proper treatment usually recover from acute toxicity but may suffer from neurologic complications.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18154426

Glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide and an organophosphorous compound, specifically a phosphonate. It is used to kill weeds, especially annual broadleaf weeds and grasses that compete with crops. It was discovered to be an herbicide by Monsanto chemist John E. Franz in 1970.[3] Monsanto brought it to market in 1974 under the trade name Roundup and Monsanto's last commercially relevant United States patent expired in 2000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate

[ag_dude]

9. I know very well what it is.

It's a herbicide, not a pesticide like the original article refers to it.

Nobody who actually works with it calls it a pesticide.

[tkmorris]

11. Yes. You are correct

I would however humbly submit to you that this minor correction (which you have gone to some lengths to make) does not change the relevant portions of this article in any meaningful way.

[ag_dude]

13. I went great lengths?

It was originally a one sentence correction. Word for word I've posted less than half of what you have.

This is an extremely common mistake when journalists who are not familiar with the subject try to write about it.

I was just correcting it.

[Major Nikon]

14. ag-dude is not correct. Even the manufacturer calls it a pesticide

Q: How is Roundup PROMAX® herbicide registered in the U.S.?

A: All pesticides in the U.S., including Roundup PROMAX, must be registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before they can be sold. Before the agency can approve registration, a variety of stringent toxicity, crop residue and environmental fate studies must be conducted by the company and reviewed by the EPA. Only when the EPA finds the studies to be scientifically sound and accepts them can the pesticide be registered and sold in the U.S. In addition, many state agencies carefully review these studies, examine product uses for specific geographies, and apply their own strict registration to pesticides. Monsanto's glyphosate-based herbicides certainly have one of the most extensive worldwide human health, occupational safety and environmental databases ever completed on a pesticide product. The study of glyphosate continues today as new requirements come into existence or as Monsanto evaluates possible questions on its own.

http://www.monsanto.com/products/pages/frequently-asked-questions.aspx

[ag_dude]

16. MS in environmental engineering, ag focus.

Call it pesticide in the field and you'll be laughed at.

But by all means, continue on....

[Major Nikon]

18. Being laughed at by those who are ignorant isn't much of an insult

Q: How is Roundup PROMAX® herbicide registered in the U.S.?

A: All pesticides in the U.S., including Roundup PROMAX, must be registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before they can be sold. Before the agency can approve registration, a variety of stringent toxicity, crop residue and environmental fate studies must be conducted by the company and reviewed by the EPA. Only when the EPA finds the studies to be scientifically sound and accepts them can the pesticide be registered and sold in the U.S. In addition, many state agencies carefully review these studies, examine product uses for specific geographies, and apply their own strict registration to pesticides. Monsanto's glyphosate-based herbicides certainly have one of the most extensive worldwide human health, occupational safety and environmental databases ever completed on a pesticide product. The study of glyphosate continues today as new requirements come into existence or as Monsanto evaluates possible questions on its own.

http://www.monsanto.com/products/pages/frequently-asked-questions.aspx

[ag_dude]

19. I chellenge you to go to any feed store....

...and call glyphosate a pesticide and see how quickly you're corrected.

You won't though, you're going to sit at home and think you know what you're talking about like every other Internet troll out there.

Really, I gain nothing from it. Glyphosate is called a herbicide by anybody who has any sort of contact with it instead of sitting behind a keyboard.

Call it pesticide if you want, it's obvious you never have contact with the field any way so it shouldnt matter....

Btw, would you like me pm you a picture of my undergrad? It was ag engineeeing, not environmental. How about my private applicator license?

[Major Nikon]

22. Glyphosate is and should be called herbicide

Raid is and should be called insecticide.

Captan is and should be called a fungicide.

D-Con is and should be called a rodenticide.

All of these things are pesticides. I could really care less if some bumpkin in a feed store demonstrates ignorance of basic facts, but actually I was raised on a farm and have spent quite a bit of time in feed stores and I'm not convinced even your average hayseed is actually that ignorant.

Deny the widely used definition if you want, its obvious you have no degree in agriculture anyway, so it shouldn't matter...

[ag_dude]

40. "its obvious you have no degree in agriculture anyway"

Apologies for covering up my name.

This is an extremely conservative field and there are a few clients there would be actual consequences with if they knew I lean left...

[img][/img]

[LiberalArkie]

68. Texas A&M. Well that explains it right there.

[Major Nikon]

69. Gov Rick "Goodhair" Perry's alma mater

[Denzil_DC]

79. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences not good enough for you?

A pesticide is any substance used to kill, repel, or control certain forms of plant or animal life that are considered to be pests. Pesticides include herbicides for destroying weeds and other unwanted vegetation, insecticides for controlling a wide variety of insects, fungicides used to prevent the growth of molds and mildew, disinfectants for preventing the spread of bacteria, and compounds used to control mice and rats.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/pesticides/

[tabasco]

64. LOL!

I go to feed stores quite a bit and nobody would give a shit what you call it. Get a grip.

[brentspeak]

26. "I know very well what it is'

If that's true, why didn't you identify it as a herbicide in the first place?

[ag_dude]

42. Truthfully? Because I was on my phone at a long red light.

When somebody argued that point, I did go into further depth on it, mainly because I was then wasting time here at the office.

[djean111]

76. So what? It still causes cancer. I would hate to think you are just thread-jacking in order

to deflect from that.

[Duppers]

78. It is a Toxin.

Which subset is not of upmost relevance to me.

Use the exact nomenclature if you must, which I can appreciate, but please understand the point of the thread.

Do you want to consume it? I sure as hell don't.

[Major Nikon]

12. Roundup is a specific type of pesticide

Anyone who 'corrects' that fact is ignorant of the definition. The USDA, every agricultural university in the world, and Monsanto itself refers to it in just that way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide#Definition

[ag_dude]

15. Bull shit.

I have an MS and work in the field. It's not called a pesticide by anybody in the field, it's called that by people on the Internet who think reading Wikipedia informs them.

[Major Nikon]

17. Sure, it's much better to be informed by someone claiming degrees anonymously on the internet

Q: How is Roundup PROMAX® herbicide registered in the U.S.?

A: All pesticides in the U.S., including Roundup PROMAX, must be registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before they can be sold. Before the agency can approve registration, a variety of stringent toxicity, crop residue and environmental fate studies must be conducted by the company and reviewed by the EPA. Only when the EPA finds the studies to be scientifically sound and accepts them can the pesticide be registered and sold in the U.S. In addition, many state agencies carefully review these studies, examine product uses for specific geographies, and apply their own strict registration to pesticides. Monsanto's glyphosate-based herbicides certainly have one of the most extensive worldwide human health, occupational safety and environmental databases ever completed on a pesticide product. The study of glyphosate continues today as new requirements come into existence or as Monsanto evaluates possible questions on its own.

http://www.monsanto.com/products/pages/frequently-asked-questions.aspx

[GreatGazoo]

20. are you thinking of "insecticide"

If so yes, if one goes around calling RoundUp an insecticide then yes that it wrong.

But as Major Nikon is trying to tell you Pesticide is an umbrella category which includes:

- fungicides
- insecticides, and
- herbicides (including Round Up)

So RoundUp is a herbicide AND a pesticide just as we are Humans and Mammals.

[ag_dude]

21. I know what he's trying to say.

It's a pretry common way those not involved in ag refer to glyphosate.

Nobody who actually works in ag calls it a pesticide because it's a herbicide. You'd get firred if you put glyphosate (in any of its brand names) in sprayer marked for pesticide.

[GreatGazoo]

23. so "pesticide" when written on the tanks only means "insecticide"?

seem like it would be better to just write "insecticides only"

[ag_dude]

46. The terms used in actual agriculture are pesticide and herbicide.

Nobody who applies glyphosate would ever mix it up with a pesticide for the reasons Major Nikon is because it's not a pesticide, it's a herbicide.

The reason different tanks are marked differently is almost entirely to make sure stuff like glyphosate doesn't end up contaminating a tank used for pesticide application.

In most feed stores (which is where a solid amount of farmers get their chemicals even for row crops) they even separated the herbicides, where glyphosate would be, from the pesticides.

[Major Nikon]

66. You were wrong, get over it

ag_dude (540 posts)
2. Glyphosate is not a pesticide.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027640898#post2

Q: How is Roundup PROMAX® herbicide registered in the U.S.?

A: All pesticides in the U.S., including Roundup PROMAX, must be registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before they can be sold. Before the agency can approve registration, a variety of stringent toxicity, crop residue and environmental fate studies must be conducted by the company and reviewed by the EPA. Only when the EPA finds the studies to be scientifically sound and accepts them can the pesticide be registered and sold in the U.S. In addition, many state agencies carefully review these studies, examine product uses for specific geographies, and apply their own strict registration to pesticides. Monsanto's glyphosate-based herbicides certainly have one of the most extensive worldwide human health, occupational safety and environmental databases ever completed on a pesticide product. The study of glyphosate continues today as new requirements come into existence or as Monsanto evaluates possible questions on its own.

http://www.monsanto.com/products/pages/frequently-asked-questions.aspx

[Major Nikon]

28. Marking a sprayer "pesticide" would be a blatant OSHA violation, ag-dude

Hazardous chemicals are required to be labeled, even in temporary containers, with the specific chemical involved. "Pesticide", or "herbicide" for that matter, wouldn't cut it.

Question 1: Is it necessary to label each bottle of reagent even if it will be used in a timely manner?

Reply: The labeling requirement depends on the OSHA standard which covers your facility. OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), at 29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(5) states "... the employer shall ensure that each container of hazardous chemicals in the work place is labeled, tagged or marked with... (i) Identity of the hazardous chemicals...and (ii) Appropriate hazard warnings, or alternatively, words, pictures, symbols or combination thereof,...to...provide the employees with the specific information regarding the physical and health hazards of the hazardous chemicals." Paragraph 6 allows an employer to use signs, placards, process sheets, batch tickets, operation procedures, or other such written materials in lieu of labels, providing the required information is conveyed.

https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=23781

You don't sound all that well educated, ag-dude, and I'm pretty convinced at this point you haven't worked in any sort of competent agriculture environment.

[ag_dude]

38. Again, no, it wouldn't

You have containers that are marked for "pesticide" and for "herbicide"

When you fill them with the relevant pesticide or herbicide, you would mark them with the specific type you are using. Even though rigs are thoroughly cleaned, this added step is typically taken to prevent stuff like putting round up in pesticide rig.

However, you don't put herbicides in a pesticide spray rig because of the risk of contamination. If you don't have equipment to use one specfically for one purpose or the other, you're at higher risk for cross conatimination.

I'm pretty convinced at this point you haven't worked in any sort of competent agriculture environment.

[img][/img]

Please forgive my finger blocking my name. This is a small field and heavily conservative. There would be real consquences for certain clients finding out I'm one of those stinking democrats.

[tkmorris]

60. Well this is certainly one of the more childish things I've seen today

I give up. I'm out. Y'all have fun with your internet pissing contest.

[ag_dude]

63. Thank you.

The kid lied about me, I replied in kind.

[Major Nikon]

65. Yeah, that's it

This is what you wrote before you edited it:

Call it pesticide if you want, it's obvious you never have contact with the field any way so it shouldnt matter....

So who lied about whom again?

Kinda funny how your "proof" that I don't know what I'm talking about is the refusal to acknowledge something that was unadulterated bullshit to begin with.

ag_dude (540 posts)
2. Glyphosate is not a pesticide.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027640898#post2

Q: How is Roundup PROMAX® herbicide registered in the U.S.?

A: All pesticides in the U.S., including Roundup PROMAX, must be registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before they can be sold. Before the agency can approve registration, a variety of stringent toxicity, crop residue and environmental fate studies must be conducted by the company and reviewed by the EPA. Only when the EPA finds the studies to be scientifically sound and accepts them can the pesticide be registered and sold in the U.S. In addition, many state agencies carefully review these studies, examine product uses for specific geographies, and apply their own strict registration to pesticides. Monsanto's glyphosate-based herbicides certainly have one of the most extensive worldwide human health, occupational safety and environmental databases ever completed on a pesticide product. The study of glyphosate continues today as new requirements come into existence or as Monsanto evaluates possible questions on its own.

http://www.monsanto.com/products/pages/frequently-asked-questions.aspx



You were wrong. Get over it.

[Jim Beard]

31. I farm too and roundup is not normally called a pesticide.

I just put up with it and go on. Too me, Pesticide means PEST

Herbicides are HERBS plants

Call it gasoline if you want but it isn't correct.

[Major Nikon]

36. It is correct

Federal law calls it a pesticide. The EPA calls it a pesticide. The USDA calls it a pesticide. The FAO calls it a pesticide. The MSDS calls it a pesticide. The manufacturer calls it a pesticide.

Just because you choose not to call it a pesticide doesn't not make it anything other than a pesticide. It would be like saying because you call your cattle "cows" they aren't ruminants.

[ag_dude]

43. It's not just him, it's the entire industry

...as well as anybody that is even remotely familiar with the subject.

USDA field reps don't call it a pesticide either.

Go find all the quotes you want, it's a herbicide and I'm not sure why you feel so pasionately about it that you'd lie about people's backgrounds to say otherwise.

[Major Nikon]

45. All herbicides are pesticides

The original claim was that the authors of the article are ignorant for calling an herbicide a pesticide which it most certainly is. You made two posts ignorantly claiming otherwise before I made a single post and you were also first with lying about my background which is why I gave it back to you. Most people learned about dishing it out and taking it in grade school, YMMV.

[ag_dude]

47. I'll bite, what IS your background with herbicides and pesticides?

I've postd proof showing you to be a liar, your turn.

You're posting links to stuff you don't even understand the context of to the point that it's obvious you have no background with the subject at all.

And NO, being an avid reader of Wikipedia doesn't count as a background.

[Major Nikon]

55. I'm not big on claiming expertise anonymously

So if you want to call bullshit, be my guest. Seems more relevant to include actual facts rather than providing a completely unverifiable opinion of what the boys down at the feed store might or might not say, but obviously YMMV.

For one thing, I was raised on a farm, so I've been in and out of feed stores all my life. I manage hundreds of employees who use pesticides (yes this includes glyphosate) in an industrial environment. I've been to more OSHA training on the subject than I can count from people that actually do know what they are talking about and I can assure you that glyphosate is routinely referred to as a pesticide. So claiming I could just ask all the boys down at the feed store for an informed opinion on the subject (and I'm not convinced even they are that ignorant), just doesn't offer that much in the way of useful information (but it was funny as hell and you should be commended for it).

I noticed you didn't say much about the actual manufacturer calling it a pesticide. Perhaps you should mail Monsanto a copy of your picture and set them straight on the subject. I'm sure they would be as impressed as I was.

[ag_dude]

56. Yeah, sure, whatever you say anonymous internet poster.

Nice background you just made up there.

I'm sure somebody who doesn't actually work in ag will believe it.

[Major Nikon]

58. And yet the facts support my assertion and betray yours

Very telling that.

[ag_dude]

59. Yeah, sure, its obvious I have no degree in agriculture anyway

[Major Nikon]

61. Sure, because that makes glyphosate not a pesticide

ag_dude (540 posts)
2. Glyphosate is not a pesticide.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027640898#post2

Q: How is Roundup PROMAX® herbicide registered in the U.S.?

A: All pesticides in the U.S., including Roundup PROMAX, must be registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before they can be sold. Before the agency can approve registration, a variety of stringent toxicity, crop residue and environmental fate studies must be conducted by the company and reviewed by the EPA. Only when the EPA finds the studies to be scientifically sound and accepts them can the pesticide be registered and sold in the U.S. In addition, many state agencies carefully review these studies, examine product uses for specific geographies, and apply their own strict registration to pesticides. Monsanto's glyphosate-based herbicides certainly have one of the most extensive worldwide human health, occupational safety and environmental databases ever completed on a pesticide product. The study of glyphosate continues today as new requirements come into existence or as Monsanto evaluates possible questions on its own.

http://www.monsanto.com/products/pages/frequently-asked-questions.aspx



You were wrong. Get over it.

[Jim Beard]

50. I sat through 5 hours of continueing ag classes and they also use the umbrella phrase "pesticide".

Pesticide License by the State of Texas

[ag_dude]

51. Who taught your course and referred to glyphosate as a pesticide?

[Denzil_DC]

83. Perhaps it was somebody who is familiar with very basic scientific terminology?

A pesticide is any substance used to kill, repel, or control certain forms of plant or animal life that are considered to be pests. Pesticides include herbicides for destroying weeds and other unwanted vegetation, insecticides for controlling a wide variety of insects, fungicides used to prevent the growth of molds and mildew, disinfectants for preventing the spread of bacteria, and compounds used to control mice and rats.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/pesticides/

[yellowcanine]

62. I work with farmers every day and do pesticide applicator training.

Glyphosate formulations have EPA registration numbers and are labeled as pesticides in exactly the same way as insecticides, fungicides and all other pesticides. No farmer or person at an "Ag College" has ever corrected me about calling glyphosate a pesticide. In any case, it is not farmers who define what a pesticide is, it is the EPA.

[hedgehog]

24. Arguing semantics is foolish - pesticide or herbicide, some people don't want to consume it.

[marmar]

4. Ah, Monsanto. The gift that keeps on killing.

[yellowcanine]

6. Actually the glyphosate patent has long run out so there are other companies

making glyphosate products. I guess you can blame Monsanto but that would be like blaming Bayer for every problem with aspirin.

[yellowcanine]

5. This has nothing to do with GMOs. Beer is made from barley or wheat.

There is no GMO barley or wheat. The reason glyphosate might be found in beer is that farmers are using it as a pre-harvest aid to kill any weeds which might interfere with harvest and to help the drying down process (though it likely doesn't really help much with that).

[GreatGazoo]

29. There is GMO wheat but none is approved for use.

And the source could be local water in addition to residues on the malt or hops.

[yellowcanine]

54. Hard to see how glyphosate would get on hops - or in potable water.

One can speculate that anything is possible I guess but realistically when talking about commercial production there are only so many ways things can happen. There are no commercial varieties of GMO wheat. There may be experimental varieties but wheat from experimental varieties is not grown on commercial farms.

[GreatGazoo]

57. In water run off. Glyphosate shows up in water all over the place.

A total of 154 water samples were collected during the 2002 study in nine Midwestern States. Glyphosate was detected in 36 percent of the samples, while its degradation product, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) was detected in 69 percent of the samples. The highest measured concentration of glyphosate was 8.7 micrograms per liter, well below the MCL (700 micrograms per liter).

http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/glyphosate02.html

8.7 micrograms per L for US stream water is very similar to the numbers for the beer tests which ranged between 0.46 and 29.74 micrograms per liter.

[Major Nikon]

70. Another reason to drink German beer instead of water

[Jim Beard]

33. Thats why I was wondering why the header showed corn

Corn is for whiskey and there was a rebellion about whiskey in the early years of our countries and the bootleggers lost.

[yellowcanine]

48. Corn can be used for beer but it is usually not done commercially.

Just about anything containing starch can be used to make beer.

[KamaAina]

25. Augustiner is Republican Stepdad's favorite.

He can't seem to find it in NYC, though. Strange.

[hedgehog]

27. I can't say that glyphosate caused my (relatively rare) cancer,

no one can say it didn't. Given a choice, I'd rather not have been exposed to any environmental petrochemicals. (and I'm old enough that I played on a lawn that had been sprayed from the air with DDT.)

[Peregrine]

30. According to WHO, beer is a class 1 carcinogen

So you are attacking a class 2 for being in a class 1.

[Major Nikon]

67. Monsanto doesn't make beer

[Archae]

32. This "story" is classic overhype bullshit.

"Linked to cancer!"

Drinking water is "linked to cancer."

Gotta throw in of course the evil "Monsatan!"

The actual facts are that it's not just Monsanto anymore, other companies make the herbicide.

And it's safe if handled properly.

Meanwhile Big Organic (oh yes they exist,) is using FAR more toxic pesticides and herbicides, but they are called "organic."

To sum it up: This is absolute bullshit.

[Jim Beard]

35. I don't think they are using more but they are definitely using too much.

[Archae]

39. Who is using too much?

[Major Nikon]

41. In some cases they are definitely using more

But "more" is misleading to begin with. Using more of a relatively benign substance can't be compared to using a substance with a greater toxicity. This works both ways. Some pesticides approved by the NOP are highly toxic in their base form, while some synthetic pesticides are far less toxic than table salt. Measuring residue in parts per billion in order to imply some kind of public health hazard can be extremely dubious.

[Jim Beard]

34. I have been involved in organics

and can truthfully say there are many more asshole farmers and processors than people doing it for the love of the product.

Hell, Texas, the REGULATION STATE has only 2 organic inspectors for the entire state.

[Major Nikon]

37. I'm surprised there are that many

Organic certification is performed by 3rd-party certificate organizations which are approved under the NOP. The state should have no business with approving what is nothing more than a marketing term.

[Jim Beard]

44. There has been an evolution in organic certification.

What you are referring to was the way it was done in the early days. There were actually some private certification organizations that allowed a small amount of insecticides. Texas passed a strict set of laws in around 1998 and the Federal Government passed uniform organic laws and all growers in all states MUST go by those laws if they want their crop Organic Certified. You CANNOT label anything organically grown in the US if it has not registered and has past inspections of the state agricultural departments. Yes, the states enforce Federal Law.

Texas does as all others, but not very good because they do not do the necessary inspections as needed. They are just stretched too thin.

Remember the West, Texas fertilizer explosion. Prime example of Texas law enforcement. Cut the funding until it can no longer do an adequate job.

[Major Nikon]

49. Actually the evolution was the reverse

Certification began with non-governmental certification organizations, evolved to state regulation, which evolved into the NOP. Certainly some states are still involved in regulation.

However, the point here is that "organic" is merely a marketing term and is regulated the same way as all sorts of marketing terms used by the food industry. It in no way implies greater nutrition or safety. If I have a choice between organic regulators and those that keep towns from blowing up, I'd just as soon choose the latter.

[Jim Beard]

53. Yes it is the word that is used and is the one that has been accepted.

My mother still hates the way they ruined the word GAY for HER.

If the public accepts it, that is Democracy. Isn't that wonderful.

I don't carry a dictionary like some carry a copy of the constitution.

What I have been saying is the law of the land.

[Buzz Clik]

52. The drinking water standard for glyphosate is 3 times that level.

A nice target for glyphosate in beer would be zero, but this is a non-issue.

[tabasco]

74. Yurpeens might not agree with our drinking water standards.

[Buzz Clik]

75. Maybe. The could establish their own, they could use WHO's levels, or...

...they could tell their farmers to quit spraying their crops close to harvest.

[AxionExcel]

71. Disgusting Chemical Pollution, Inc.

Chemical crap everywhere and GMO pollution for profit. Disgusting.

[Taitertots]

72. I'll believe it when I see the owners of these companies drink a liter of contaminated water

I'll bet if you put it in his water, he'll call the police and say you poisoned him.

[Throd]

73. I don't even remotely give a shit.

Gimme another Wehenstephaner.

[AxionExcel]

77. Have it your way -

[Throd]

81. Wow, that guy happens to look a lot like me!

[AxionExcel]

80. It's in the birth canal, and in the gut

The toxic crap called glyphosate is defiling our bodies. Not just in beer, also in tampons and sanitary pads.



Corporations need to stop serving profit, and start serving people.

https://www.rt.com/news/333665-toxic-tampons-shop-recall/

[Bradical79]

82. I'm not seeing the GMO connection

The jump from the article to President Obama on GMO labeling is pretty abrupt.