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A story about a cancer-causing agent found in weed killer detected in numerous foods containing oats is going viral again–but what has been done about it? Plus, urgent Windows update issued for 7 and higher and more news.
A story is circulating heavily on social media over an analysis by the Environmental Working Group’s Children’s Health Initiative which found that nearly 2 dozen oat-based cereals and snack products from General Mills, as well as several Nature Valley products, were found to contain glyphosate, the cancer-causing ingredient in the Monsanto weed killer Roundup, US News reported in 2019.
Another 2019 study done by Friends of the Earth (FOE), found that 100 percent of oat cereal samples tested positive for residues of glyphosate, OrganicConsumers.org reported.
Roundup was first introduced to farmers in 1974, according to My Gene Food. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the herbicide.
But those are the only products, Quaker Oats and Kellogg’s also reportedly produced products containing the alleged carcinogen that is an active ingredient in weed killer.
The World Health Organization declared a probable carcinogen in 2015, although an Environmental Protection Agency committee disagreed, Bloomberg reported.
But it wasn’t only General Mills. PepsiCo’s Quaker Oats was also sued in 2016 by consumers in New York and California for false advertising for not listing that the product contained glyphosate, Industry Week reported at the time.
In January 2020, Kellogg issued a statement that it plans to phase out the use of glyphosate as a pre-harvest drying agent in its wheat and oat supply chain in its major markets, including the United States, by the end of 2025, Food Business News reported.
A report in November 2020 said that researchers have been advancing their efforts to more accurately measure the level of glyphosate pesticides and oats to more accurately protect consumers, Phys.org reported.
For every action, there is a reaction. When drugs get flushed down the toilet their ingredients make their way into waterways and eventually fish.
Researchers in the Czech Republic found that the disposable of illicit drugs are making their way into freshwater echo systems, where fish there can be addicted through exposure to the drug-tainted wastewater, Global News CA reports.
The results of the study were published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
In short, the researchers divided fish into groups with clean water and meth-tainted water. Over half of the drug-exposed fish, given a choice, then preferred to return to the amphetamine-laced water over clean water. The fish also displayed sluggishness for roughly 96 hours when moved to a clean tank. Researchers say both of these behaviors are signs of addiction.
On Wednesday, Microsoft urged all Windows users to immediately install and update after security researchers with the company and discovered a serious operating system vulnerability.
The security flaw is called PrintNightmare, and it exploits the Windows Print Spooler service, CNN Business reported.
The vulnerability affects several versions of Windows, including 10 and 7. Even though Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 last year, no longer offering updates, it is offering a patch for the 12-year-old Windows 7 OS, which is a clear sign of the severity of the PrintNightmare vulnerability and why all Windows users should take this threat seriously and update their PC immediately.
