Consumers sue Quaker Oats over '100 percent natural' lie after product tests positive for weedkiller

Sunday, May 15, 2016 by: Sarah Landers
Tags: Quaker Oats, all natural claim, glyphosate contamination

---

(NaturalNews) At a time when food giants such as Aldi and Del Monte are receiving good publicity for taking a stand on GM produce and the importance of clear labeling, Quaker Oats is being questioned over traces of toxic chemical glyphosate in a lawsuit.

As reported by The New York Times, a lawsuit that is currently seeking to be certified as a class action has recently been filed on behalf of a group of consumers in New York and California, against the owner of Quaker Oats. Tests have found traces of the herbicide ingredient glyphosate in some of the company's oatmeal products.

The dangers of eating glyphosate for breakfast

Glyphosate is a nasty chemical that is found in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide and has been linked with causing damage to cells, genetic mutations, miscarriages, immune diseases, cancer and other seriously debilitating conditions.

Despite the proven impacts on the human body caused by exposure to this toxic compound, glyphosate is still used across the US in farming, in public parks and in gardens. And Quaker Oats isn't the only cereal believed to be contaminated with glyphosate – residues of the herbicide have been found in many popular breakfast foods, sometimes in levels higher than the maximums set by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to Natural News.

Glyphosate was originally claimed to be biodegradable and harmless, and the FDA Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program and the USDA Pesticide Data Program never carried out appropriate testing on the long term effects of glyphosate exposure, or its presence in food. But numerous studies have shown that dangerous complications are experienced from exposure to just low levels of glyphosate. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen, and the chemical has been linked to hormonal disruption, organ damage and birth defects, as reported by Natural News.

The Quaker Oats lawsuit

The New York Times states that, "while the level of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the popular weed killer Roundup, detected in the oatmeal falls well below the limit set by federal regulators for human consumption, the lawsuit accuses Quaker of false advertising because it markets the oatmeal as '100% natural.'"

Quaker is owned by PepsiCo, and according to the Quaker Oats website, the oats used in its products are grown in an environmentally responsible way. The reported impacts of glyphosate on the environment prove that, if Quaker oats are exposed to this harmful chemical, they cannot be growing in an environmentally responsible way.

The Quaker Oats website states that "since oats require less herbicide spray than many other grains, there is less risk of pollutants and groundwater contamination." However, the lawsuit argues that statements such as "100% natural" are false and misleading to the consumer, as reported by The New York Times. It is unlawful of Quaker to capitalize on the growing consumer demand for ethically and environmentally conscious products by claiming its oats are natural when they are exposed to such a toxic chemical.

Quaker Oats have stated that glyphosate is not added during any part of the milling process, but that it might be applied to the grains of certain crops before they are harvested. The lawsuit reveals just how concerned consumers are about the way their food is produced and demonstrates the need for companies to consider the entire chain that goes into food production – from farming to packaging.

To learn more about the toxic chemicals hidden in the American food supply and what you can do to avoid them, be sure to check out Food Forensics, the upcoming book by Mike Adams, lab director of CWC Labs.

Sources include:

NYTimes.com

NaturalNews.com

QuakerOats.com

Science.NaturalNews.com