The consumer information monthly Test-Salvagente has for the first time mapped glyphosate residues in Italian food — and in the water we drink. Here's what they found.
The most controversial herbicide of the moment, the most widely used in agricultural fields worldwide, the one found in high concentrations in 14 German beer brands and in the urine of citizens themselves, as well as, on the other side of the world, in the breast milk of American women, is now contaminating Italian food too.
Test-Salvagente has carried out the first analyses in Italy on 100 cereal-based foods (and on drinking water), finding that traces of glyphosate are present in pasta and other products such as rusks and corn flakes. The magazine describes it as "a game of Russian roulette that can hardly offer reassurance to either companies or consumers." This is because batches of the same brand are not all alike: in some the herbicide has been detected, while in others it is absent. The same applies to tap water: samples taken a short distance apart may contain it or may not.
The water analysis was carried out by checking 26 samples from various Italian cities. In two cases — in Brusnengo, in the province of Biella, and in Campo Galliano, in the province of Modena — AMPA was found in concentrations exceeding the legal limits. AMPA is a derivative of glyphosate that shares the herbicide's toxicity and long-term effects on human health. Yet, as the monthly writes, "no Italian region analyses the presence of glyphosate and its metabolite AMPA in drinking water, despite EU recommendations."
The residues found in cereal-based products were always below the legal limits, but they testify to a very widespread contamination of glyphosate in food that is difficult for consumers of conventional farming products to avoid. As regards corn flakes, glyphosate was detected in Kellogg's All-Bran Plus sticks, at 0.140 mg/kg. It was also present in Gentilini wholegrain rusks (0.130 mg/kg), in La Conte Farine Magiche Manitoba flour (0.023 mg/kg) and in Molino Spadoni Farina d'America Manitoba flour (0.098 mg/kg). As regards pasta, traces of glyphosate were found in Colavita spaghetti (0.019 mg/kg), in Del Verde spaghetti (0.083 mg/kg), in Divella penne ziti rigate (0.033 mg/kg), in Divella spaghetti (0.038 mg/kg), in Garofalo mafalda corta (0.043 mg/kg), in Italiamo Lidl spaghetti (0.070 mg/kg), in La Molisana farfalle rigate (0.160 mg/kg) and in La Molisana spaghetti (0.056 mg/kg).
A halt to the use of the herbicide — classified as a probable carcinogen by the IARC yet cleared by EFSA — could have been called just a few days ago at European level, but it was not. On 13 April, the European Parliament asked the Commission to approve the authorisation for use of the herbicide for a further 7 years, rather than the 15 originally envisaged, disappointing consumers and the entire Stop Glifosato coalition. "The advance indications of the EU Commission's intentions are not moving in the direction of citizens' interests. We will continue our fight and we call on the regions to remove glyphosate from the production specifications that receive Rural Development Programme funding," declared Mariagrazia Mammuccini, spokesperson for the coalition made up of 38 Italian organisations (including LifeGate) committed to banning the use of the substance.
But what would happen if, in addition to cereal-based products, all the foods on Italian tables were tested? Wine, for example. Coming soon on LifeGate: an exclusive video investigation into glyphosate in vineyards, by photographer Massimo Colombo.
