The California chapter of the consumer-interest group U.S. PIRG recently tested 20 popular brands of beer and wine for glyphosate residues, and the report of their findings is attracting some attention.

Ninety-five percent, or 19 out of 20, of the products sampled had measurable glyphosate, with concentrations ranging from trace amounts to 51 parts per billion, or ppb (Ivanova, 2019).

The highest glyphosate amounts were found in Tsingtao beer (49 ppb) and Sutter Home Merlot (51 ppb), while Peak Beer was the only non-organic brand tested that had no measurable glyphosate.

CALPIRG also tested 4 organic beverages, 3 of which contained glyphosate residues of up to 5.2 ppb (Cook, 2019).  The presence of the herbicide on certified organic products demonstrates how pervasive it is in the environment, and “indicates there’s glyphosate in a lot of other products,” says the report’s author Kara Cook (Ivanova, 2019).

This is just another drop in a long list of recent reports calling attention to glyphosate residues, which appear to be pervasive in the American food chain, showing up in ice cream, snacks, breakfast cereal, and even pet food.

Source:

Kara Cook, “Glyphosate in Beer and Wine,” CALPIRG Education Fund, 2019.

Irina Ivanova, “Consumer watchdog finds traces of Roundup weed killer in beer and wine,” CBS News, Date published: February 25, 2019, Date accessed: March 4, 2019.