The ruling in the case Monsanto v. Durnell shields pesticide manufacturers like Bayer–Monsanto, the maker of glyphosate-based Roundup, in failure-to-warn lawsuits. A legal expert explained to Food Safety Magazine how this decision potentially weakens state right-to-know chemical health warning laws like California's Proposition 65.
The Paraquat Prevention Act would cancel all EPA-registered uses of the herbicide and permanently prohibit its reregistration. More than 70 countries, including the EU and China, have banned the domestic use of paraquat, although China still manufactures and exports the chemical to the U.S.
On May 26, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed into law two bills related to food chemical safety; specifically, the nation’s first state-level ban on paraquat (H.739) and legislation setting heavy metals testing and disclosure requirements for baby food manufacturers (H.536).
A presidential Executive Order invoked the Defense Production Act of 1950, asserting that glyphosate-based herbicides are critical to “national security.” MAHA supporters are pushing back on the order.
Like the Healthy Florida First initiative’s previous reports on toxic heavy metals in candy and infant formula, details that would help contextualize the findings have not been disclosed, such as the sampling and testing methodology or relevant safety thresholds
A paper from the year 2000 suggesting the safety of glyphosate (the active ingredient in herbicide Roundup), which has been cited for decades in regulatory decisions and pesticide approvals, has been retracted after litigation revealed undisclosed conflicts of interest undermining the study’s integrity.
The California Assembly has passed a bill requiring an expedited review of paraquat, an herbicide linked to human health harms. It is used on food crops like almonds and pistachios.
The European Commission is poised to make the controversial decision to renew ten-year approval of the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto-Bayer’s Roundup product line, which has come under fire in recent years for its association with cancer.
Although the use of glyphosate on crops poses a food safety risk and its use should be curbed, completely banning the substance too early may lead to farmers using chemical alternatives that are just as harmful to human and environmental health, according to experts from Wageniningen University and Research (WUR).
