World Health Day: Could Glyphosate in Our Food Be Carcinogenic?

Factor GMO Supports World Health Organization’s Precaution over Glyphosate

Today while people celebrate World Health Day, which is dedicated to food safety this year, Factor GMO is paying special attention to the recent report from the World Health Organisation’s cancer agency IARC, which concluded that the World’s most used herbicide,  glyphosate, is a probable human carcinogen. IARC reached its decision based on the view of 17 cancer experts from 11 countries, who met in France to assess the carcinogenicity of 5 pesticides.

Elena Sharoykina, the initiator of the world’s largest ever GMO and pesticide safety study, Factor GMO, stated Monday:

“Most people eat food produced using glyphosate herbicide: this chemical has been used widely for over 40 years. The WHO’s verdict proves that it is necessary to apply the precautionary principle with regards to glyphosate. We call upon the general public worldwide to support comprehensive long-term studies on glyphosate and its commercial formulations as sold and used, including carcinogenicity, toxicity and multigenerational arms. We need to act fast.”

“The WHO decision has only confirmed the need for global support for the Factor GMO study. Today it is the one and only study that can provide comprehensive information for regulatory agencies, the general public, farmers and politicians worldwide to understand what level of harm glyphosate-based formulations such as Roundup may be causing to living organisms. Other studies that have been planned or that have been published are not nearly as comprehensive as Factor GMO will be.”

Factor GMO

The ‘Factor GMO’ study will investigate the health effects of glyphosate, Roundup and a GM maize variety that has been in our food and animal feed supplies for many years. It will answer the question: Is this GM maize variety and glyphosate/Roundup safe for human health?

‘Factor GMO’ will be the largest and most detailed long-term experiment ever conducted on glyphosate and Roundup. It will add invaluable data of unprecedented power to enable regulators, governments and the general public of every country to answer the question: Are glyphosate herbicides harmful at real world levels of consumption/exposure?

The three arms of the experiment will enable vital questions to be answered, such as:

• Is the GM food or glyphosate toxic to organ systems over the long-term?
• Does the GM food or glyphosate certainly cause cancer?
• Does the GM food or glyphosate reduce fertility or cause birth defects?
• Is the mixture of chemicals present in ‘Roundup’ herbicide more or less toxic than its active ingredient glyphosate?

This study will be first ever to have a comprehensive multi-generational arm – this will be the first study to thoroughly test for effects on reproductive capability and incidence of birth defects of GMOs and glyphosate/Roundup.

The study will also establish a new, higher standard for the rigorous testing of glyphosate and Roundup that will be applicable world-wide.

The full data and results of the study will be made publicly available.