Sunday Edition: The glyphosate debate

Quick bites from the food safety arena

1. The FDA’s warning about Ambrosia Brands moringa powder responsible for a Salmonella Newport outbreak has been updated to include more than 70 countries. The powder comes in capsule form and is sold under the Rosabella brand. This strain of Salmonella is resistant to first-line antibiotics commonly recommended for treatment of Salmonella infections. No deaths have yet been reported from this outbreak.
2. The World Health Organization is updating its assessment of the causes of foodborne diseases associated with diarrhea. The latest studies reveal that Shigella is responsible for significantly more cases than the Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) estimated in 2015. Norovirus is not as significant a contributor as originally estimated.
3. The European Commission launched a new food safety campaign. The “Love It. Hate It. Trust It.” initiative is aimed at raising awareness of EU food safety standards, building consumer confidence in European food products and strengthening the global positioning of EU food safety.
4. On Wednesday, President Trump issued an executive order designed to increase domestic production of the weedkilling chemical glyphosate. The order invokes the Defense Production Act, a law intended for use in national emergencies when companies need to be compelled to produce certain items for national defense. The order came hours after Bayer, maker of glyphosate-containing Roundup, announced that it had reached a tentative agreement to establish a $7.25 billion fund to settle thousands of lawsuits claiming Roundup causes cancer.  

Today's topic: ROUNDUP

Visit any big box store in the spring, and the first thing you are likely to see is a huge pile of the glyphosate herbicide sold as Roundup.

The public’s favorite weedkiller is still available even though Bayer (which acquired the herbicide’s maker Monsanto in 2018) has already paid billions of dollars to settle lawsuits over claims that Roundup causes severe illnesses in people exposed to it in significant amounts.