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 The focus is on glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup.
Testing has increased in the last two years, but scientists say
requests spiked after a World Health Organization research unit said
last month it was classifying glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic
to humans."
"The requests keep coming in," said Ben Winkler, laboratory manager
at Microbe Inotech Laboratories in St. Louis. The commercial lab has
received three to four requests a week to test foods and other
substances for glyphosate residues. In prior years, it received only
three to four requests annually, according to its records.
"Some people want to stay out in front of this. Nobody knows what it
means yet, but a lot of people are testing," said Winkler.
Microbe has handled recent requests for glyphosate residue testing
from small food companies, an advocacy group testing baby formula
and a group of doctors who want to test patients' urine for
glyphosate residues, said Winkler. The firms and doctors do not want
their identities published.
Abraxis LLC, a Warminster, Pennsylvania-based diagnostics company,
has also seen a "measurable increase" in glyphosate testing, said
Abraxis partner Dave Deardorff.
Monsanto Co, the maker of Roundup, on April 1 posted a blog seeking
to reassure consumers and others about glyphosate residues.
"According to physicians and other food safety experts, the mere
presence of a chemical itself is not a human health hazard. It is
the amount, or dose, that matters," Monsanto senior toxicologist
Kimberly Hodge-Bell said in the blog. Trace amounts are not unsafe,
she stated.
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Company spokeswoman Charla Lord said last week that further
questions could be directed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
There are numerous studies that have determined glyphosate to be
safe, but several others have linked it to human health ailments.
Critics say they fear that glyphosate is so pervasive in the
environment that extended exposure even to trace amounts can be
harmful.
Tests by Abraxis found glyphosate residues in 41 of 69 honey samples
and in 10 of 28 soy sauces; Microbe tests detected glyphosate in
three of 18 breast milk samples and in six of 40 infant formula
samples.
North Dakota State University agronomist Joel Ransom reported to the
U.S. Wheat Quality Council in February that tests he ordered showed
traces of glyphosate in several U.S. and Canadian flour samples.
(Reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City; Editing by Dan Grebler)
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