Weedkiller

A US jury ruled weedkiller Roundup caused a man’s terminal cancer

British farming bodies have stressed the safety credentials and necessity of glyphosate for food production after eye-watering damages were awarded in a US lawsuit against Monsanto.

The chemical giant was last week ordered to pay California groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson $289m (£227.4m) after a court jury ruled its weedkiller Roundup had caused his terminal cancer, having failed to warn him of the health hazards from exposure to the product.

Monsanto plans to appeal the ruling and has always denied Roundup causes cancer.

However, the case has reignited debate about the controversial weedkiller and this week prompted renewed calls by the Soil Association to ban its use on pre-harvest crops in the UK.

This has been strongly challenged by the NFU and the Crop Protection Association, which represents agrochemical companies including Monsanto. Both insist glyphosate is safe to use and crucial to UK farming.

Despite the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classifying glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen” in 2015, its licence was extended until 2022 by the EC last November.

“No regulatory agency in the world classifies glyphosate as a carcinogen,” insists the CPA. “Indeed, 800 scientific studies have found no connection between glyphosate and cancer, as did the recently published Agricultural Health Study.”

The verdict in the US lawsuit was “extraordinary” adds NFU deputy president Guy Smith, who notes both the European Chemicals Agency and the European Food Safety Authority “reviewed all the evidence and concluded glyphosate poses no risk when used correctly”.

Glyphosate “reduces the need to use other herbicides and helps to protect soil and cut greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the need for ploughing”.