Kellogg’s recently announced it will stop using wheat and oats treated with glyphosate, an herbicide, in their products by 2025.
Food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Tuesday to speak about why this new commitment was made by the food manufacturing company.
“Kellogg’s is saying, ‘No, we don’t want to use any of that glyphosate stuff, because it can be found in our cereal and we’re not marketing it to children,” Kummer said.
Bayer, a company that uses glyphosate in their weedkiller Roundup, has not yet commented on Kellogg’s phase out, Kummer said.
“It’s very bad news for Bayer because once Kellogg’s implies that glyphosate can be dangerous to your children, every consumer is going to start looking for glyphosate-free products,” he said.
But wheat and oat farmers use glyphosate to strengthen their crops before harvesting, Kummer noted.
“Farmers are saying, ‘We need it. It’s said to be safe. Why are you telling us it isn’t?'”
Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic, an award-winning food writer, and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy.
