Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup and 700 other pesticides. Last year, the World health organization declared the chemical to be a “probable” carcinogen.
Since that time, a number of countries have banned its use, including France, Brazil, and the Netherlands. While the use of glyphosates has not been outlawed in the U.S., many states have increased its hazard rating. One state, Maryland, has put a partial ban on glyphosate use while a number of cities have banned its use in specific instances.
Glyphosate traces in German beer
So perhaps it wasn’t a surprise when an environmental group reported their findings on glyphosate levels in 14 popular brands of German beer on February 25, putting a blemish on Germany’s “Reinheitsgebot,” or German purity law. The findings were downplayed by the government and the beer industry, reported Reuters.
The environmental group only tested 14 brands of beer, but they report that all the brands showed levels above the 0.1 microgram limit allowed in drinking water. They also conceded that no conclusions could be made on the levels of the chemical in any particular brand of a beer tested.
Hasseroeder, a beer brewed in Saxony-Anhalt in eastern Germany and owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, had the highest level of glyphosates at 29.74 micrograms per liter. Augustiner beer, made in Munich, had the lowest levels, at 0.46 micrograms per liter. All were above the levels allowed for drinking water.
California wines also have traces of glyphosate
The report on glyphosate traces in California wines has raised eyebrows across the state. Moms Across America initiated the testing using the Microbe Inotech Lab of St.Louis, Missouri.
A total of 10 different wines from large and small vineyards in the Napa Valley, Sonoma and Mendocino counties in California were tested. In this case, the names of the wines were not revealed because as EcoWatch says, that is not of major importance, the results are. The real issue is the level of contamination found in the wines.
According to the final report, the contamination of conventional wine was 28times higher than organic wine. “The highest level of glyphosate detected was up to 28.4 times higher than the other wines at 18.74 ppb from a 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon from a conventional, chemically farmed vineyard. The lowest level was from a biodynamic and organic vineyard, 2013 Syrah, which has never been sprayed according to the owner, with a level of .659 ppb. An organic wine from 2012 mixed red wine grapes, had 0.913 ppb of glyphosate.”
Wine growers on conventional farms say that glyphosates are probably in the manure and/or fertilizers they use from animals fed genetically modified grains. Many farmers are also noticing that vines that were productive for up to 100 years are now only lasting 10 to 12 years because of the chemicals being used today.
One big concern is for the folks who buy organic products, expecting to get what they are paying for. Glyphosate pesticides sprayed onto fields and crops can drift in the wind, so even an organic farm is at risk.
