I love steel cut oatmeal for breakfast. It reminds me of my father, who made oatmeal for breakfast many school days. Once I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance, I had to put a skeptical eye on oats because they are often processed in factories with wheat. Serendipitously, during my research to find oats not processed in plants with grain, I also found that most oats in the USA are treated with glyphosate. My concern about processing near wheat became a bigger issue with the usage of this potential carcinogen.
The process is called desiccation.
Glyphosate, found in Roundup and other pesticides, quickly dries the crop. This saves time, and time is money in processing foods. The biggest users of this technique are the United States, Canada, and Italy. Of the three, Canada is more widespread because many areas have a shorter growing season and use this technique the most. This is true in the United States for non-organic food as well. Organically grown products are not supposed to use desiccation in the US. However, many food companies use a variety of crops from different locations, so there is the potential risk of mixing clean and dirty oats, even if they are labeled organic.
Glyphosate is banned in many countries for a good reason. Glyphosate has been linked to many blood cancers. Roundup lost a court battle that concluded the causality of blood cancers, certain types of lymphoma, and leukemia in persons who used the product.
Besides cancer risks, it disrupts the gut microbiome and hormonal pathways and can cause potential kidney and liver damage. Despite this knowledge, it’s widely used in GMO foods and non-GMO wheat, oats, soybeans, kidney beans, and chickpeas.
How is a product determined by the International Agency for Cancer Research to be a probable carcinogen to be used on foods that many of us consume regularly? If you look at who owns Roundup and Monsanto, they are the same people who grow the food, spray it, and process it under names like Quaker Oats and Cheerios. According to a report from California scientists and the World Health Organization, 43 of 45 oat-based products tested had glyphosate. Popular foods like Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats and Cheerios had above-average to high levels.
Evaluations of many organic products found that some still had low levels of glyphosate, including my once favorites, Bob Red Mills. The quest began for organic oats without desiccation techniques. Here are some brands: GF Harvest, Healthy Traditions, Nature’s Path, Montana Gluten Free, and 365 from Whole Foods. Nature’s Path spearheaded the “non-GMO Project Verified” labeling program. One possible corruptor is that it is grown in Canada, and the wind does take chemicals and spread them in organic fields. That makes it almost impossible to be 100% free in some areas. However, the company is doing its best to provide a safe product.
The potential health risks are only part of the problem.
Foods treated with glyphosate no longer develop the natural molecules that keep them from being eaten by pests. These molecules make the plants more nutritious and flavorful and have cancer-fighting properties. We humans take all their hard work and consume it (when eaten as a whole food) and benefit from these Phyto-chemicals which reduce our disease risks. Remove those molecules and our cancer and disease rates go up. In addition, the soil microbiome is destroyed by this and other chemicals. The plants seek the molecules they need to be healthy but are not in the soil. You end up with a tomato that looks like a tomato, has a slight taste of tomato, and is devoid of most of the nutrients of the organically grown tomato from your garden or the farmers market – and is full of a possible carcinogen.
Being a former Montanan, I choose to support Montana Gluten-Free Oats. I love that they are a small company that digs deep into that one product—oats. On their FAQ page, they state they do not use oats sprayed with glyphosate, and some third-party testers have found it to be clean. They are gluten-free Kosher, and some organic products are certified by the Montana Department of Agriculture. The variety of oats they use is higher in protein—about 20-22%. They do not have to heat their oats for longer shelf life due to the high natural level of vitamin E. Lastly, this ancient grain does not cause cross reactivity with a gluten antibody test for those with Celiac disease or other high sensitivity to oats. I’m sold. (I have no affiliation other than being a happy customer)
One other brand I now find in most grocery stores is One Degree Organic Foods. They, too, are verified and family-owned. (Also, there is no affiliation.)
