Glyphosate residues on food not a safety concern says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency recently released its findings of testing for glyphosate residues on a range of food products between April 2015 to March 2017. The results confirm that the foods Canadians are eating are safe and that glyphosate residues on our food do not pose a health or safety concern.

At a time when Canadians are confronted with real risks to their health from the global pandemic, it’s reassuring to know that we can continue to have confidence in the safety of our food supply.

The results showed that 99.4 per cent of foods sampled complied with Canadian regulatory limits for residues. Health Canada sets maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides. These are residue levels that could be found on a crop if the product is used according to label directions. MRLs are established to facilitate trade and they are not indicators of safety.

In Canada, most food does not have any detectable glyphosate residues. However, on rare occasions glyphosate residues that are above MRLs are detected on crops. There has never been an incident where these residue levels have posed a risk to human health. In most cases, MRLs are set 100 times or more below a level that would pose any safety concern. The bottom line: simply being able to detect a substance is not an indication of danger.

Glyphosate has received a great deal of media attention in recent years. But despite the misinformation being disseminated by some special interest groups, glyphosate is one of the most effective and safest pesticides ever developed. Every major regulatory agency around the world, including Health Canada, has concluded that glyphosate does not cause cancer.

In 2017 Health Canada did a thorough re-evaluation of glyphosate where it re-confirmed its safety. It later reviewed a series of objections to its re-evaluation decision. After which, PMRA said that it ‘left no stone unturned’ in reviewing the science and concluded that glyphosate does not cause cancer. As part of this assessment it stated that there is no health risk from exposure to glyphosate residues on food.

The current global health crisis has reaffirmed not only the need for credible, science-based information to inform our actions and give us an accurate assessment of the risks we face but also the need for us to collectively trust the science. Fortunately, Canada has a strong science-based system for ensuring the safety of our food supply, and this latest analysis from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirms the system is working.

While the compliance rate for samples tested for glyphosate residues is very high, as an industry we are committed to continuous improvement and ensuring that all pesticides, including glyphosate, are used appropriately. CropLife Canada works closely with industry partners to encourage farmers to follow label directions to minimize the risk of unintended glyphosate residues on crops through the Keep It Clean initiative.