[sustainable_tompkins-l] More Bad News for Honey = Glyphosate Residues in Food

[Tony Del Plato]

More Bad News for Honey as U.S. Seeks to Get Handle on Glyphosate Residues
in Food

Carey Gillam  
Veteran journalist; Research Director for
U.S. Right to Know, a non-profit consumer education group

[image: 2016-11-02-1478101514-6826308-100natural.jpg]


Testing for residues of an herbicide developed by Monsanto Co. that has
been linked to cancer has turned up high levels in honey from the key farm
state of Iowa, adding to concerns about contamination that have triggered
at least two lawsuits against honey industry players and prompted scrutiny
by regulators.

The Food and Drug Administration began glyphosate residue testing in a
small number of foods earlier this year after the International Agency for
Research on Cancer classified glyphosate
 as
a probable human carcinogen in March 2015. The “special assignment,” as the
FDA refers to the testing project, is the first time the FDA has ever
looked for glyphosate residues in food, though it annually tests foods for
numerous other pesticides.

Research
by
FDA chemist Narong Chamkasem and John Vargo, a chemist at the University of
Iowa, shows that residues of glyphosate - the chief ingredient in
Monsanto’s branded Roundup herbicide - have been detected at 653 parts per
billion,

more
than 10 times the limit of 50 ppb allowed in the European Union. Other
samples tested detected glyphosate residues in honey samples at levels from
the low 20s ppb to 123 parts per billion ppb. Some samples had none or only
trace amounts below levels of quantification. Previous reports
had
disclosed glyphosate residues in honey detected as high as 107 ppb. The
collaborative work was part of an effort within FDA to establish and
validate testing methodology for glyphosate residues.

“According to recent reports, there has been a dramatic increase in the
usage of these herbicides, which are of risk to both human health and the
environment,” Chamkasem and Vargo stated in their laboratory bulletin.

Because there is no legal tolerance level for glyphosate in honey in the
United States, any amount could technically be considered a violation,
according
to statements  made
in FDA internal emails, obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
requests.

The Environmental Protection Agency may soon move to set a tolerance,
however. The agency has set tolerance levels for glyphosate residues in
many foods the EPA expects might contain residues of the weed killer. When
residue levels are detected above the tolerance levels, enforcement action
can be taken against the food producer.

“EPA is evaluating the necessity of establishing tolerances for inadvertent
residues of pesticides in honey,” the agency said in a statement. The EPA
also said there was no reason for consumers to be concerned about the
residue in honey. “EPA has examined the glyphosate residue levels found in
honey and has determined that glyphosate residues at those levels do not
raise a concern for consumers,” the agency said.

Despite the reassurances, at least two lawsuits have been filed over the
issue. The Organic Consumers Association and the Beyond Pesticides
nonprofit groupfiled suit Nov. 1

against
the Sioux Honey Association Cooperative, a large Iowa-based group of bee
keepers who produce the nationally known brand Sue Bee Honey. Sue Bee bills
itself as “America’s Honey,” but the lawsuit alleges that the labeling and
advertising of Sue Bee products as “Pure,” “100% Pure,” “Natural,” and
“All-natural” is “false, misleading, and deceptive.” Some of the glyphosate
residues detected in the FDA tests were found in the Sue Bee brand, according
to the FDA documents
 obtained
through FOIA requests.

The claims are similar to another lawsui
t,
which seeks class action status, that was filed against Sioux Honey
Association in late September in U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of New York.

Quaker Oats was sued earlier this year on a similar claim regarding
glyphosate residues. The FDA has also found glyphosate residues in oatmeal

[sustainable_tompkins-l] ADVISORY: Veterans Day Closing and Curbside Recycling Pick-up Schedule

[Geoff Dunn]

On Friday, November 11th, the Tompkins County Solid Waste Division office will 
be closed in observance of Veterans Day.


However, the Recycling and Solid Waste Center will be open its regular hours, 
7:00am to 3:30pm, and there will be NO change in curbside recycling collection.

Recycling pick-up will follow a regular Friday schedule on November 11th.
For more information, contact:
Tompkins County Solid Waste Division
607-273-6632
www.recycletompkins.org


###





Geoff Dunn

Communications and Administrative Coordinator

TC Solid Waste Management Division

122 Commercial Ave.

Ithaca, NY 14850

(607)273-6632

For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please 
visit:  http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
If you have questions about this list please contact the list manager, Tom 
Shelley, at t...@cornell.edu.

[sustainable_tompkins-l] This video shows journalist shot at Standing Rock

[Tony Del Plato]

Apologies for cross postings


http://fusion.net/story/365922/standing-rock-erin-
schrode-shot-police-no-dapl/?utm_source=facebook_
medium=social_campaign=fusion

This horrific video shows the moment a journalist at Standing Rock was shot
by police for no reason


This horrific video shows the moment a journalist at Standing Rock was
shot...
As peaceful protests over the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline again
turn violent, one journalist near the S...





-- 

*“Hope is not the optimism that things will turn out right. Hope is the
soul’s deep orientation to what is right, no matter how things turn out.”**
   -Vaclav Havel*

For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please 
visit:  http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
If you have questions about this list please contact the list manager, Tom 
Shelley, at t...@cornell.edu.