Los Angeles county authorities have banned all use of notorious weed killer glyphosate – the herbicide better known by its Monsanto/Bayer trade name, Roundup – after a second court ruling linking it to a man’s cancer.

“I am asking county departments to stop the use of this herbicide until public health and environmental professionals can determine if it’s safe for further use in L.A. County and explore alternative methods for vegetation management,” Kathryn Barger of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said.

DeLauro’s Legislation Would Require Tests for Glyphosate on Kids’ Foods

WASHINGTON – Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced legislation today to dramatically limit American children’s exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller, in food. The bill would not only ban late-harvest spraying of glyphosate on oats but also require the federal government to test foods popular with children for the herbicide, which has been linked to cancer.

Key provisions in DeLauro’s bill include:

- Prohibiting the spraying of glyphosate as a pre-harvest drying agent on oats.

- Lowering by 300-fold the permissible level of glyphosate residues on oats, restoring the legally allowed level to just 0.1 parts per million, or ppm.

- Requiring the Department of Agriculture to regularly test fruits, vegetables and other foods routinely fed to infants and children for glyphosate residues.

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“It is shocking that USDA’s annual pesticide residue survey fails to include the most widely used pesticide in America,” he said. “Parents deserve to know how much of the food they buy and feed their children could potentially be contaminated with a highly toxic chemical listed by the state of California as a substance known to cause cancer. DeLauro’s bill is an important first step toward providing that information for consumers.”

The non-GMO flour market is likely to remain influenced with growing consumer inclination toward healthy diet worldwide. Various lifestyle diseases have translated in a paradigm shift toward gluten free food products and non-GMO flour is no exception. The non-GMO flour being organic in nature, facilitate removal of bad fat, supporting in maintaining cardio-vascular health of people. In addition non-GMO flour removes obesogens that stack body fat, which results in lower cholesterol levels.

Growing certifications from regulatory authorities are expected to impact the growth of non-GMO flour market. The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) and Non-GMO Project Verified are two vital certifications that non-GMO flour must undergo in order to enter the commercial market. Main focus behind these stringent certifications on non-GMO flour is to gain consumer confidence on non-GMO flour and other organic products, largely to push the organic trend worldwide. However, though these certifications ensure zero dent in consumer confidence, it becomes difficult for non-GMO flour producers to fully meet certification requirements.

Mercaris, a market data and auctions startup that is helping to grow organic and non-GMO agriculture in the U.S., released March 13 its monthly market update outlining the current state of organic corn and soybean production and imports in the U.S.

U.S. organic corn production reached nearly 42 million bushels last year, experiencing a 2% year-over-year (y/y) increase that was boosted by acreage expansion in the 2018/2019 marketing year. Yields held mostly even with the prior year, Mercaris noted.

SAN DIEGO – Quality Assurance International (QAI) has launched a certification mark to help consumers understand that products certified organic by the US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) also must be free of genetically modified organisms/bioengineered ingredients.

San Diego-based QAI, a provider of organic certification services, conducted a study that found 80 percent of respondents were unaware that products with the USDA organic seal were also non-GMO.

Non-Gmo Foods Market overview :About Non-GMO Foods

The global non-GMO foods market is growing at a steady pace. The increase in the number of health-conscious people and increasing demand for non-GMO food products by middle class families are the primary reasons for the growth of the market. The rising demand for organic food products has also increased the demand for non-GMO food products from consumers. However, premium pricing of non-GMO food products is expected to act as one of the major barriers for the growth of the global non-GMO foods market. The increased adoption of non-GMO seeds by farmers and the growing number of food companies in the non-GMO food sector are expected to fuel the global non-GMO foods market positively during the forecast period.

NEW YORK (AP) — Somewhere in the Midwest, a restaurant is frying foods with oil made from gene-edited soybeans. That’s according to the company making the oil, which says it’s the first commercial use of a gene-edited food in the U.S.

Calyxt said it can’t reveal its first customer for competitive reasons, but CEO Jim Blome said the oil is “in use and being eaten.”

The Minnesota-based company is hoping the announcement will encourage the food industry’s interest in the oil, which it says has no trans fats and a longer shelf life than other soybean oils. Whether demand builds remains to be seen, but the oil’s transition into the food supply signals gene editing’s potential to alter foods without the controversy of conventional GMOs, or genetically modified organisms.

Among the other gene-edited crops being explored: Mushrooms that don’t brown, wheat with more fiber, better-producing tomatoes, herbicide-tolerant canola and rice that doesn’t absorb soil pollution as it grows.

Consumer advocates charge the move "runs counter to sound science and market demand."

The Trump administration has lifted a ban on importing genetically engineered or GE salmon, which critics have long called "Frankenfish," in a move that consumer advocates charge "runs counter to sound science and market demand."

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the decision on Friday, more than three years after approving GE salmon as the first biotech animal authorized for commercial sale and consumption in the United States.

"With this move, FDA has put American consumers at serious risk by putting unlabeled, unnatural fish on the market."

—Friends of the Earth

Bayer is now facing lawsuits from around 11,200 plaintiffs over the health implications of Roundup and Ranger Pro, its glyphosate-based weedkillers.

The German life science giant revealed the figure Wednesday as it announced its results for fiscal 2018. Full-year sales were up 13% and EBITDA before special items up 2.8%, but full-year net earnings were down more than three-quarters due to a $3.8 billion impairment charge and a $2.3 billion charge in connection with Bayer’s acquisition of Roundup maker Monsanto.

February 21, 2019, San Francisco, California – – The trial of Edwin Hardeman v. Monsanto Company (now Bayer) will begin with opening arguments on Monday, February 25, 2019 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco before Judge Vince Chhabria. Jury selection occurred on February 20, 2019 and a panel of seven women and two men were chosen. The trial is expected to last a month.

Mr. Hardeman’s case is the lead case of the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) against Monsanto and the first of the group to proceed to trial. More than 1,600 cases in the MDL are pending before Judge Chhabria, all filed by plaintiffs who allege exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

Case. No. 4:16-cv-00525-DMR / MDL Case No. 3:16-md-02741-VC,Hardeman vs. Monsanto Company et al.