Friday 30 September 2016

Wheat crops soaked with glyphosate weedkiller before harvest...

Glyphosate, a toxic chemical found in popular weedkiller Roundup, is classed by the World Health Organization as a probable carcinogen. Roundup is commonly used across America in gardens, public parks and for agriculture – but studies have found that one of its ingredients – glyphosate – is dangerous to human health.

What is glyphosate?
Glyphosate is a herbicide that is sprayed on crops to reduce the number of undesirable weeds that grow in agricultural fields, as stated by the National Pesticide Information Center. It is non-selective, meaning it is toxic to most plants. Glyphosate is therefore mostly used in combination with Genetically Engineered crops (GE crops) that have been designed to be resistant to this powerful chemical – such as GE corn and wheat.

Harvesting glyphosate-soaked crops
Of particular concern is the use of glyphosate just before harvesting crops such as wheat – also known as desiccating. According to The Organic and Non-GMO Report this is done to completely kill the crop one to two weeks before the harvest, which aids with the drying out of the grain. This pre-harvest spraying means that the level of glyphosate on the wheat is far higher than necessary – or desirable.
All the more reason to give the store-bought "cancer bread" a miss

FULL ARTICLE

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