In the fall of 2012, we received an e-mail from someone claiming to be a Welsh farmer asking if we knew of any research that had been done to investigate whether glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) could be detected in human milk. Having conducted research on human and bovine milk composition for decades, this question represented a typical inquiry for us. Not able to locate any published papers addressing this person’s question, we reached out to the scientists at Monsanto (the manufacturer of Roundup) to find out if they were aware of any research in this regard. The answer, to our surprise, was ‘no.’ Two years later, in the spring of 2014, Moms Across America – an anti-GMO, pro-organic group founded and championed by Zen Honeycutt – reported on the internet that they had detected “shockingly” high levels of glyphosate in several human milk samples. However, their sample collection and analysis methods were ill-defined and questionable. Circling back to our earlier discussions with Monsanto, we decided to collaborate in such a way as to more rigorously answer the question at hand: Does human milk contain detectable levels of glyphosate? We were, however, relatively naïve to the perfect storm into which we had just unwillingly and unwittingly stepped. This presentation will tell “the rest of the story,” including a complex web of lies, ad hominem attacks, rampant science illiteracy, orchestrated social media blitzes, partial journalism, and an extensive US Freedom of Information request. We strongly urge foods-and-nutrition researchers, their employers, and their professional societies to take a stand and speak up against these types of attacks by “advocacy” organizations aimed at purposefully misleading the public and (ultimately) attempting to drive policy decisions using emotions, unsubstantiated claims, and junk science as their evidence.

Moms, milk, and Monsanto: The precise conditions for a perfect storm

256th National Meeting (2018)

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