Ben Carson to advise on updated dietary guidelines in new MAHA role at USDA

[Hol]

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson was sworn in on Wednesday as the chief representative of the Make America Healthy Again adviser to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he is expected to help update dietary guidelines for federal food programs.

The USDA announced that Carson was tapped by Secretary Brooke Rollins and President Donald Trump as the National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing for the department, which is slated to be working on “nutrition, rural healthcare quality, and housing accessibility.”

Ben Carson to advise on updated dietary guidelines in new MAHA role at USDA

President Donald Trump and Brooke Rollins tapped Ben Carson to advise on USDA nutrition policy, including dietary guidelines.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

 

[Kem]

I sure hope they get glyphosate out of our grains.

 

[Margery]

A concern. Ben is a Seventh Day Adventist (they are usually vegetarian) so hoping he isn't going to push the beans and lentils and ignore the meat fish and poultry.

Depending on his views on the role of fat in the diet I'm hoping he doesn't demonize animal fats further as they have been under the low fat era which had people's weight soar and health decline.

I sure hope they get glyphosate out of our grains.

YES!!!

I found out recently it's not just sprayed on the fields to take out the weeds, but it's ALSO used as a "drying agent" in harvested grains like Wheat and Oats etc. In fact that INCREASED the amount of glyphosate (RoundUP) that we eat in the last 30 years!

Oats are even more contaminated than wheat. I've switched to non GMO, organic oats that are gluten free (meaning they aren't processed with wheat in the same facility)

I've noticed that European flour which doesn't allow Round Up at ANY point- doesn't bother me as much- I'm able to tolerate wheat and rye for example which do have gluten! BUT if they are from Europe, and especially if they are a sourdough process- I can tolerate a small amount.

AND it's not just in grains (rice is heavily contaminated) but also in BEANS (legumes such as soybeans, lentils, and other dry beans). Peanuts are less contaminated because apparently the plants are really hit hard by this weed killer.

Crop desiccation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"Crop desiccation can improve the efficiency and economics of mechanical harvesting. In grain crops such as wheat, barley and oats, uniformly dried crops do not have to be windrowed (swathed and dried) prior to harvest, but can easily be straight-cut and harvested. This saves the farmer time and money, which is important in northern regions where the growing season is short."

Poisoning Regulation, Research, Health, and the Environment: The Glyphosate-Based Herbicides Case in Canada - PMC

Despite discourse advocating pesticide reduction, there has been an exponential increase in pesticide use worldwide in the agricultural sector over the last 30 years. Glyphosate-Based Herbicides (GBHs) are the most widely used pesticides on the ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"Despite discourse advocating pesticide reduction, there has been an exponential increase in pesticide use worldwide in the agricultural sector over the last 30 years. Glyphosate-Based Herbicides (GBHs) are the most widely used pesticides on the planet as well as in Canada, where a total of almost 470 million kilograms of declared “active” ingredient glyphosate was sold between 2007 and 2018. GBHs accounted for 58% of pesticides used in the agriculture sector in Canada in 2017. While the independent scientific literature on the harmful health and environmental impacts of pesticides such as GBHs is overwhelming, Canada has only banned 32 “active” pesticide ingredients out of 531 banned in 168 countries, and reapproved GBHs in 2017 until 2032. This article, based on interdisciplinary and intersectoral research, will analyze how as a result of the scientific and regulatory captures of relevant Canadian agencies by the pesticide industry, the Canadian regulation and scientific assessment of pesticides are deficient and lagging behind other countries, using the GBH case as a basis for analysis. It will show how, by embracing industry narratives and biased evidence, by being receptive to industry demands, and by opaque decision making and lack of transparency, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) promotes commercial interests over the imperatives of public health and environmental protection. "

Measuring Herbicide Residue in Oat-Based Food Products

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes tolerances for pesticide and herbicide residues in food that are still co

www.nist.gov

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes tolerances for pesticide and herbicide residues in food that are still considered safe for consumption. For food manufacturers to test their products a reference material is recommended to ensure their measurements are accurate. Oats are of particular interest as the herbicide, glyphosate, is used as a desiccant to dry out the crop before harvest. This allows for earlier harvests and greater uniformity of crops. Consequently, glyphosate is typically found at higher levels than other herbicides.


The reference materials are oat flour obtained from commercial sources. The level of glyphosate in the RM 8238 (high level) was targeted to represent typical glyphosate levels found in oats from conventional agriculture practices. The level of glyphosate in RM 8239 (low level) was targeted to represent typical glyphosate levels found in oats from organic agriculture practices, yet high enough to detect by current glyphosate analytical methods These materials are intended for harmonizing measurements of glyphosate in grains and similar materials.


A unit of RM 8238 or 8239 consists of one bottle of oat flour. Each bottle contains approximately 100 g of material."