Food brands score ‘F’ in efforts to reduce pesticides

Seventeen major food manufacturers averaged low marks for their efforts to reduce pesticides in their products, according to a report published this month.

Nonprofit organization As You Sow analyzed 27 indicators to gauge the progress of the food industry towards cutting toxic pesticides from the manufacturing process. Brands which were reviewed were Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Bloch & Guggenheimer (B&G) Foods Inc., Campbell Soup Company, Cargill, Conagra Brands Inc., Danone S. A., Del Monte Pacific Limited Foods Inc., General Mills Inc., Kellanova, The Kraft Heinz Company, Lamb Weston Holdings Inc., Mars Incorporated, Mondelēz International Inc., Nestlé, PepsiCo Inc., Post Holdings, Inc., and The J. M. Smucker Company. 

Scores were based on the answers to 27 questions divided into seven categories. In the Pesticide Risk Reduction Strategy category As You Saw asked whether brands have publicly stated a goal to reduce pesticides in their key agricultural supply chains. Seven companies responded positively, but only two — ADM and B&G Foods — have actually conducted pesticide risk assessments that include human health.

Furthermore, in the Tracking and Monitoring Pesticide Use category, the report found that none of the brands actually collect or monitor data on pesticide use in their agricultural supply chains. Only three companies have publicly stated they will begin collecting such data within the next year.

Nearly all companies were reported to have “sustainability” policies. But when it came to having policies regarding the use of toxic chemicals, the scores were much lower. Only ADM was reported to have published a supplier standard regarding the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in RoundUp which is the most widely used herbicide in the United States.

RoundUp manufacturer Monsanto is owned by pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which was recently ordered by a Missouri jury to pay more than $1.5 billion in damages after finding that the herbicide contains carcinogens. Two years ago Bayer set aside $16 billion to settle more than 100,000 lawsuits alleging the herbicide causes cancer.

Nor do any of the food brands reviewed have policies regarding the use of neonicotinoid insecticides, which have been found to damage male fertility and nervous systems in mammals, resulting in anxiety, mood disorders, altered social behavior, motor functions, and serious damage to cognitive processes.

Brands did, however, show moderate progress in adopting regenerative agriculture practices. Regenerative agriculture focuses primarily on soil health and employs more traditional farming practices such as the use of livestock, planting cover crops, and diversifying crops.

None of the companies reportedly make efforts to ensure that farmers are trained in safe pesticide use to minimize exposure to workers, or to ensure that nearby communities are informed when suppliers spray pesticides which contaminate the air and water supplies.

Overall, General Mills scored the highest with a C, followed by ADM and PepsiCo, both of whom scored a C minus. Conagra Brands and Campbell Soup received a D, while Lamb Weston Holdings and Nestlé scored a D minus. The remaining ten brands scored an F.

A study published last week found that pesticides are likely responsible for a 50% drop in sperm count in men around the world over the last 50 years.

A group of American and Italian researchers conducted a meta-analysis looking at 1,774 men across 20 studies and 21 study populations. They were specifically looking for any impact on male fertility from organophosphates (OPs) and N-methyl carbamates (NMCs), two of the most common insecticides.

They found a high association between the insecticides and low sperm concentration, with OPs appearing to be even more dangerous than NMCs. 

Men who had occupational exposure to the insecticides — those who work in agriculture, for example — predominantly had lower sperm concentrations. But “even a small magnitude of effect could have consequential impacts on sperm concentration at a population level,” explained the researchers.

Other pesticides are also known to impact male fertility. 

In another study, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley found that three-quarters of male frogs exposed to the herbicide atrazine began producing less sperm and less testosterone. Not only did the frogs experience lower fertility, many sought to mate with males instead of females. Ten percent of the frogs exposed to atrazine became females producing viable eggs.

“Atrazine-exposed males were both demasculinized (chemically castrated) and completely feminized as adults,” wrote the authors.

Tyrone Hayes, the study’s lead researcher, shared the implications of his findings.

“When we grow these guys up, depending on the family, we will get anywhere from 10 to 50 percent females,” Hayes said. “In a population, the genetically male females can decrease or wipe out a population just because they skew sex ratios so badly.”

Other studies found similar results in fish and reptiles, leading the Berkeley researchers to conclude that the effects of atrazine are the same across vertebrates.

When Hayes published his findings, he was targeted by Syngenta, the largest atrazine manufacturer in the US and closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Syngenta harassed Hayes and tried to defame him.

Approximately 80 million pounds of atrazine are used in the US every year. It is found on crops and has often been detected in the nation’s water supply.