It's no secret that Monsanto Corporation's trademarked pesticide Ready Roundup has become one of the most widely used herbicides in agriculture and lawncare since its introduction in the mid-1970s. However, according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), glyphosate, the principal ingredient in the herbicide is a probable carcinogen. Acting to protect its public, California requires food labels to indicate the presence of glyphosate. Problem solved, except for Monsanto’s ill-gotten and ill-considered constitutional rights.
Monsanto doesn’t want the world to know it is likely their product is a carcinogen, so they took California to court—and won. Despite the IARC's findings, a U.S. District Judge has temporarily suspended the labeling of food products that contain traces of the herbicide, because it violates Monsanto’s First Amendment right not to speak.
"We are pleased Judge Shubb granted our request," said Chandler Goule, the chief executive officer for the National Association of Wheat Growers, after the ruling.
Back in 2015, when the WHO brought together 17 oncology experts from 11 countries to review the long-suspected link between glyphosate and kidney disease in farm workers, they concluded that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen. However, the WHO conclusion stirred an international controversy. European pesticide regulators and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleged that contrary evidence was ignored or omitted.
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