Brooklyn man files class-action lawsuit vs Quaker Oats over glyphosate which could be carcinogenic

Medical experts are identifying what food to eat, such as red vegetables and fruits, to cut risk of cancers. But a company that manufactures oatmeal, a food considered a very healthy food, is being sued for allegedly containing an ingredient that is possibly carcinogenic.

The New York Post reports that Brooklyn resident Lewis Daly filed a $5 million (AUD$6.57 million) class-action lawsuit against Quaker Oats. Daly claims that oatmeal, instead of being 100 percent natural as the company claims, contains the chemical glyphosate.

Daly says Quaker Oats uses glyphosate, a widely used herbicide which the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared in 2015 as probably carcinogenic to humans, in processing the oats. Glyphosate is used to kill weed and sprayed on oats as drying agent before the harvest, says the lawsuit filed with a Brooklyn federal court.

On March 20, 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer of WHO published its study on glyphosate that the herbicide could contribute to non-hodgkins lymphoma. The study, led by Aaron Blair, scientist emeritus at the National Cancer Institute, found sufficient evidence in animals, limited evidence in humans and strong supporting evidence of DNA mutations and damaged chromosomes.

However, Monsanto – a sustainable but controversial agricultural company in Missouri known for genetically modified crops – criticised the WHO study as based on “junk science,” reports Global Research. Monsanto has heavily invested on its Roundup product which has glyphosate as main ingredient.

Besides the WHO study, published in The Lancet Oncology, another study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health also found a link between glyphosate and chronic kidney diseases of unknown origin, leading Sri Lanka to ban the chemical, which Brazil is also considering.

Without the exposure to glyphosate, The World’s Healthiest Foods classifies oats, or Avena sativa, as a very good or excellent food source containing manganese, molybdenum, phosphorus, copper, biotin, vitamin B1, magnesium, fiber, chromium, zinc and protein. Among the health benefits listed from eating oats are lower cholesterol levels, reduces risk of cardiovascular ailments and prevents heart failure.

A serving size of ½ cup dry (40 grammes) of Quaker Oats-Old Fashioned, according to the company website, has 150g calories, 25g calories from fat, 3g total fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 1g polyunsaturated fat, 1g monosaturated fat, 27g total carbohydrate, 4g dietary fibre, 2g soluble fibre, 1g sugar, 5g protein, 2g insoluble fibre, 10 percent iron, 10 percent Thiamin and 2 percent Riboflavin.