Should Floridians be worried about weed killer in their bread?<\/p>\n
Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, who helps lead the state\u2019s version of the Make America Healthy Again movement, recently said<\/a> the Healthy Florida First initiative tested popular bread brands, revealing \u201ctriple-digit\u201d levels of the herbicide glyphosate<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cGlyphosate is a weed killer,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cIt\u2019s the main ingredient you find in Roundup and other weed-killing brands. It\u2019s designed to kill plants; it is not meant to be eaten.\u201d<\/p>\n The group has released findings of \u201ctoxins\u201d in food products such as baby formula<\/a> and candy, publicizing its results<\/a> to warn people about purportedly dangerous chemicals in everyday products.<\/p>\n DeSantis said warning labels on products containing glyphosate include emergency instructions for exposure, \u201cand make clear these products are not meant for people to touch, not meant to be in the food and certainly not meant to be consumed, and yet here we are today with these findings.\u201d<\/p>\n But the minute amount of glyphosate DeSantis\u2019 group reported finding in bread isn\u2019t dangerous for people to consume.<\/p>\n The highest glyphosate level the group listed<\/a> is 191 parts per billion. That might sound scary, but it\u2019s only a tiny fraction of the trace amount of glyphosate the government says food can safely contain.<\/p>\n Chemicals in food \u2014 even those found in weed killers \u2014 are not necessarily harmful, experts said. Today\u2019s food tests are sensitive enough to detect minuscule amounts of different substances. And that\u2019s how much glyphosate was identified in the Health Florida First bread tests: trace amounts.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on the weight of evidence, these are not particularly high or dangerous levels of glyphosate,\u201d said Norbert Kaminski, a toxicologist and director of the Center for Research on Ingredient Safety at Michigan State University.<\/p>\n The Healthy Florida First website<\/a> lacks that context and DeSantis doesn\u2019t explain what the numbers mean.<\/p>\n When we asked the governor\u2019s office about the first lady\u2019s remarks, a spokesperson directed PolitiFact to the Florida Department of Health, which did not reply to our request for comment.<\/p>\n Healthy Florida First says the department conducts its food tests using independent, third-party labs. The group so far hasn\u2019t publicly identified those labs, their testing protocols, or methodology.<\/p>\n Glyphosate is widely used in agriculture to control weeds and grass, which is why trace amounts find their way into so<\/a> many<\/a> food products.<\/p>\n U.S. Food and Drug Administration testing<\/a> has shown pesticide residue in over 60% of U.S. food samples, but the vast majority of the samples \u2014 more than 97% \u2014 contained residue within federal regulatory limits.<\/p>\n The FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency both regulate pesticides in the U.S. food supply.<\/p>\n Looking at factors such as a pesticide\u2019s toxicity<\/a> and how it breaks down over time, the EPA determines how much pesticide residue food can contain without harming people. The FDA enforces those limits<\/a>. PolitiFact asked the EPA about Florida\u2019s glyphosate findings but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n Foods with unsafe levels of glyphosate could be seized by the federal government, the EPA says<\/a>, and the breads tested by Florida were not.<\/p>\n Healthy Florida First says<\/a> its tests, which evaluated popular bread brands such as Nature\u2019s Own and Wonder Bread, found glyphosate levels ranging from non-detectable to 191.04 parts per billion.<\/p>\n Parts per billion measures extremely low concentrations 1,000 times smaller than parts per million. For example, one part per billion equals 1 cent in $10 million or 1 second in 32 years.<\/p>\n The amount of glyphosate Florida found is nowhere near the EPA\u2019s limit<\/a> for the substance\u2019s residue in food, which is up to 30 parts per million \u2014 or 30,000 parts per billion.<\/p>\n Even if a person weighing 150 pounds ate about 18,850 slices of bread with glyphosate levels at 200 parts per billion every day, it would still be within a glyphosate consumption range that\u2019s considered safe.<\/p>\n DeSantis cited product labels that warn about accidental exposure to chemicals such as glyphosate.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a major disconnect between a chemical labeled as unsafe to ingest and its quiet presence in everyday food like bread,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n But experts told PolitiFact it\u2019s misleading to compare product warning labels for raw or concentrated chemicals \u2014 like those found in pesticides you can buy at a hardware store \u2014 with the trace amounts that might be found in food.<\/p>\n The concentration of glyphosate in commercial weed killers, for example, is estimated to be tens of thousands to millions of times higher than the traces in some foods after environmental degradation and food processing.<\/p>\n The chemical warning labels typically indicate hazards or risks from direct, high-level exposure to these concentrated substances, such as swallowing a pesticide solution or having it sprayed in your eyes.<\/p>\n Take trisodium phosphate. Google it, and you\u2019ll get ads for heavy-duty cleaning products used to prep walls before painting. We previously reported<\/a> that warning labels say direct contact with trisodium phosphate powder<\/a> can be irritating to eyes and skin and poisonous<\/a> if exposed in large amounts.<\/p>\n But it is also an ingredient in cereals and other processed foods<\/a>, including cheeses and baked goods. In small amounts, the FDA<\/a> and the European Food Safety Authority<\/a> say it\u2019s fine<\/a> in food<\/a>. It controls pH levels and acts as a leavening agent to make food fluffier.<\/p>\n Experts have <\/a>consistently said<\/a> \u201cthe dose makes the poison,\u201d meaning the toxicity of a substance in large, raw amounts doesn\u2019t necessarily translate to it being dangerous in broken-down, minute amounts.<\/p>\n \u201cThe level of exposure is what matters,\u201d Kaminski said. \u201cEvery chemical, including water and table salt can be toxic at a high enough dose, but we don\u2019t typically add warning labels for these.\u201d<\/p>\n PolitiFact Staff Writer Grace Abels contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Should Floridians be worried about weed killer in their bread? 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