Glyphosate

California’s vintners and growers adhere to environmental standards that are among the strictest in the world and are global leaders in sustainable practices. This includes using natural interventions as a first line of defense in weed and pest control.

glyphosate wine glass

What is Glyphosate?

Glyphosate is an herbicide used worldwide by farmers, landscapers and residential gardeners to control weeds. Glyphosate is permitted for use in vineyards by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation. It is not sprayed on grapes or vines but targeted directly to vineyard weeds.

Is Glyphosate in wine?

Any traces of glyphosate that may be present in wine from its use on vineyard weeds are far below the safe levels established by the U.S. EPA and California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

What the Experts Say

  • Safe Levels Established for 150+ Foods/Beverages. Many foods and beverages may contain minuscule, trace amounts. The EPA has established safe levels for glyphosate in over 150 foods and beverages.
  • No Significant Risk Level in Wine. California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) adopted a regulation in 2018 establishing a No Significant Risk Level (NSRL) for glyphosate of 1,100 micrograms per day. Virtually no wine contains this amount, and any trace levels that might be found in wine represent a tiny fraction of the NSRL. Based on OEHHA’s maximum NSRL of 1,100 mcgs a day, a person would have to drink more than 36 five-oz. glasses of wine a day just to reach the level that is considered to have no significant risk.
  • Farmers, Including Winegrowers, Use Materials that Meet Stringent Safety Standards. Herbicides approved for use in the U.S. and other countries are thoroughly reviewed and studied by the EPA and international governmental agencies to ensure safety. EPA’s recent reassessment found “no risks of concern to human health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label.”

These U.S. and international government agencies have found glyphosate safe for use:

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

    “EPA will no longer approve product labels claiming glyphosate is known to cause cancer – a false claim that does not meet the labeling requirements of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).”

  • Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency

    “Currently, no pesticide regulatory authority, including Health Canada, considers glyphosate to be a carcinogenic risk of concern to humans.”

  • European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

    “Glyphosate is currently approved in the EU until 15 December 2022.”

  • Germany’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (BfR)

    “…the Panels concluded that the data do not support IARC’s conclusion that glyphosate is a ‘probable human carcinogen’ and, consistent with previous regulatory assessments, further concluded that glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans.”

  • New Zealand’s Environmental Protection Authority

    New Zealand’s EPA report, “Review of the Evidence Relating to Glyphosate and Carcinogenicity,” concluded that “glyphosate is unlikely to be carcinogenic to humans or genotoxic (damaging to genetic material of DNA) and should not be classified as a mutagen or carcinogen under the HSNO Act.”

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