Good people,

The month of July is here: July heralds the beginning of the second half of the year and with it comes a period of reflection and introspection; This includes how the year has panned out in achieving defined objectives and goals: For most people a priority objective is to improve their health and wellness by consuming healthy and safe food. This blog article is about the danger from consuming unsafe food: Shocking evidence from a South African foods survey:https://acbio.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/No-Safe-Limits-for-Toxic-Pesticides-in-Our-Food.pdf

• Have you noticed that most deaths, these days are not from infectious diseases, like pneumonia and malaria complications, but are more from chronic diseases, like heart attacks, diabetes complications, like terminal renal failure, and cancers?
• What has changed in our environment and the food we consume to cause such an unprecedented increase in these chronic diseases, also referred to as non-communicable diseases (NCDs)?
• A closer look reveals that most of these foods consumed are “processed” and have “chemical additives” and agrochemical residues, which are known carcinogens and or are triggers of chronic inflammation: these range from highly processed vegetable oils, which include the “Eliantos” which we have been made to believe are healthy oils aka good for the heart health. Evidence? https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02873539
• How about the agrochemicals, like glyphosate aka Roundup (weed killer) and glufosinate which are commonly used for growing vegetables and cereals?
• Do we know their residue levels and the Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) that are allowed by our various regulatory agencies?
• Here below evidence of levels far above, those allowed in various globally accepted levels and those found in South Africa food products: GMO maize and GMO soya:https://acbio.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/No-Safe-Limits-for-Toxic-Pesticides-in-Our-Food.pdf

Is there scientific evidence of the negative health effects of glyphosate on human beings at concentrations used in conventional farming and GMO biotech farming/crop production? YES. Plenty of robust evidence!

What is the way forward?

• Do we know the maximum residue levels of commonly consumed cereals and vegetables? How safe are these food? Are they fit for human consumption?
• There is need for, not only policy regulation to ensure our foods are SAFE, but also for  reduction and eventual elimination of use of agrochemicals in growing food and the need for a shift to safer and healthier agro ecological, non-chemical, non GMO, organic based food production systems of  production and consumption.