Is this the end for glyphosate?
Yesterday there was a big step in the right direction for our campaign to get glyphosate out of our bread, and out of our bodies. EU nations have refused to back a limited extension of the herbicide glyphosate’s use, threatening withdrawal of Monsanto’s Roundup and other weedkillers from shelves if no decision is reached by the end of the month. Thanks to your support, by signing petitions, donating and joining, we are piling on the pressure to put an end to this dangerous practice. Yesterday’s decision was another dramatic blow, not just to the future use of glyphosate but to the pesticide and herbicide industry generally.
What is the EU doing about it?
The EU has listened to our campaign to ban glyphosate as a pre-harvest weedkiller on wheat destined for bread and is currently voting on whether its license should be extended. Roundup, which main ingredient is glyphosate, is the most widely used weedkiller in the world and was widely claimed to be safe. Glyphosate was expected to sail through relicensing. On the contrary, it has become very difficult to relicense . First, the EU parliament recommended to heavily restrict glyphosate use. The EU commission disagreed and decided to go ahead with a vote for the renewal of glyphosate's license for 15 years, and then 9 years. In both of these meetings the license renewal was rejected. Yesterday, they voted on the EU commission’s most recent proposal to extend the current license for only 12-18 months so that more research could be done. However, they failed to get a unanimous decision and the extension was rejected.
Why is Glyphosate so deadly?
Glyphosate can follow the grain into our food. Tests by the Defra Committee on Pesticide Residues in Food (PRiF) found that as much as 30% of UK bread contained glyphosate. Glyphosate’s manufacturers insist the levels in our food are safe. But a report by the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has concluded that glyphosate is a ‘probable carcinogen’. And research published since the IARC report suggests there is no safe level of glyphosate in food. Isn't the fact that Glyphosate could cause cancer enough for us give it a miss?
What does this mean for our campaign?
This is a massive step in the right direction for the #notinourbread campaign. It is just 30 days until glyphosate’s license expires and the EU are no closer to deciding whether to renew. This may not seem like a big deal, after all the entire EU could still vote to extend the license, but if we think about how far we have come the change in attitudes to glyphosate is huge. Although this is a huge step in the right direction we still have a long way to go. There is still a chance that glyphosate could be used and remain in our bread. Please join our campaign, and donate or join if you can, to make sure that potentially cancer causing chemicals stay out of our food!