four different flavors of ice cream in waffle cones

Scary Dairy: You Scream, I Scream… Monsanto Roundup Ice Cream

Ten out of 11 samples of Ben & Jerry's ice cream tested positive for glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, the nonprofit Organic Consumers Association revealed on Tuesday.

July 25, 2017 | Source: Common Dreams | by Jessica Corbett

Traces of “probable human carcinogen” found in samples from ten Ben & Jerry flavors

Ten out of 11 samples of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream tested positive for glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, the nonprofit Organic Consumers Association revealed on Tuesday.

Although the amount of glyphosate detected was below the safety limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as stricter European regulators, the discovery stands out from a slew of other food producers with Roundup-ridden products—from honey and baby food to Cheerios and Ritz Crackers—in part because of the ice cream maker’s branding.

Ben & Jerry’s stated mission is to produce “the finest quality all natural ice cream…with a continued commitment to incorporating wholesome, natural ingredients, and promoting business practices that respect the Earth and the environment.”

OCA’s international director Ronnie Cummins accused the company of “rampant greenwashing,” writing Tuesday:

The proliferation of $90 billion worth of fraudulently labeled or advertised “natural” and “socially responsible” food products in the U.S. confuses even the most well-intentioned of consumers and lures them away from purchasing genuine organic or grass-fed products. Perhaps no company personifies greenwashing more than Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s.  Ben & Jerry’s history—a start-up launched by two affable hippies, from a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vt.—is legendary.

While acknowledging the amounts detected in Ben & Jerry’s did not exceed federal limits, Cummins said, “Not everyone agrees with the acceptable levels governments have set…And, anyway, would you want to be eating this stuff at all?”

Glyphosate is the most heavily-used agricultural chemical in history, according to a study published last year. Since it was introduced in 1974, more than 2,300 Olympic-size swimming pools of the popular weed-killer have been sprayed on farm fields worldwide. Its widespread use is tied to Monsanto’s production of “Roundup Ready” crops—crops genetically modified to resist the chemical. Because it’s so widely used, traces of herbicide residue are often found in foods.

This has raised concerns among environmentalists and food safety advocates alike, because glyphosate has been linked hormone disruption, and there is a contentious debate over whether it causes cancer. Last month, California made headlines, and was lauded by environmentalists, when it voted to add glyphosate to its list of cancer-causing chemicals, as Common Dreams reported. In 2015, the World Health Organization designated the chemical a “probable human carcinogen.”