Compositional differences in soybeans on the market: Glyphosate accumulates in Roundup Ready GM soybeans
Food Chemistry, Volume 153, 15 June 2014, Pages 207–215, doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.12.054
T. Bøhna, b, , , M. Cuhraa, b, T. Traavika, b, M. Sandenc, J. Fagand, R. Primiceriob
Highlights
- Glyphosate tolerant GM soybeans contain high residues of glyphosate and AMPA.
- Soybeans from different agricultural practices differ in nutritional quality.
- Organic soybeans showed a more healthy nutritional profile than other soybeans.
- Organic soy contained more sugars, protein and zinc, but less fibre and omega-6.
- This study rejects that GM soy is “substantially equivalent” to non-GM soybeans.
This article describes the nutrient and elemental composition, including residues of herbicides and pesticides, of 31 soybean batches from Iowa, USA. The soy samples were grouped into three different categories: (i) genetically modified, glyphosate-tolerant soy (GM-soy); (ii) unmodified soy cultivated using a conventional “chemical” cultivation regime; and (iii) unmodified soy cultivated using an organic cultivation regime. Organic soybeans showed the healthiest nutritional profile with more sugars, such as glucose, fructose, sucrose and maltose, significantly more total protein, zinc and less fibre than both conventional and GM-soy. Organic soybeans also contained less total saturated fat and total omega-6 fatty acids than both conventional and GM-soy. GM-soy contained high residues of glyphosate and AMPA (mean 3.3 and 5.7 mg/kg, respectively). Conventional and organic soybean batches contained none of these agrochemicals. Using 35 different nutritional and elemental variables to characterise each soy sample, we were able to discriminate GM, conventional and organic soybeans without exception, demonstrating “substantial non-equivalence” in compositional characteristics for ‘ready-to-market’ soybeans.
- “In most research studies, application of herbicides has been omitted or has been done at doses lower than those typically used by farmers, giving test materials that are not representative of actual conditions existing in typical agricultural operation, e.g., with regard to glyphosate residues.”
- ‘Monsanto has claimed that residues of glyphosate in GM soy are lower than in conventional soybean”
- The MRL for glyphosate in soybeans … increased in the US and Europe. In Europe, it was raised from 0.1 to 20 mg/kg” … in 1999
- . . ."glyphosate alone has been shown to interfere with molecular mechanisms that regulate early development in frogs and chickens" . .
MRL (Maximum Residue Level) was increased 200X as more Roundup was needed to due weeds adapting to it
Looks like MRL needs to be increased yet again.
AMPA is the breakdown product of Roundup