FDA to test foods for controversial herbicide
Evidence mixed on glyphosate’s health effects
The U.S. government will test various foods for exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in several herbicides.
Tests on foods including soybeans, corn, milk and eggs are set to begin this year, says Food and Drug Administration spokesperson Lauren Sucher. In 2014, the Government Accountability Office called on the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to strengthen their monitoring of glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world. Previously, methods for such testing would have been too costly and labor intensive, Sucher says, but new methods now make it more feasible.