Mercereau Report Vol. 5 – Chemicals in Popular Children’s Foods, PFAS What They Are

Chlormequat Toxin in Cheerios

Toxins and Chemicals In Our Foods That Can Harm Our Health 

The Environmental Working Group is doing excellent work informing us of dangerous chemicals in our water and food. Now it’s something called chlormequat in oats! See what you think… 

  • Chlormequat exposure in animal studies has caused a host of reproductive and other health problems, suggesting the potential for harm to human health.
  • Unless and until federal regulators act to get chlormequat out of our food, buying organic can help reduce your potential exposure to the chemical with its attendant health risks 

One more toxin is in many cereals as well: glyphosate, otherwise known as RoundUp. Research (ongoing) demonstrates the active potential for increasing cancer risk by consuming foods with glyphosate. 

“The EPA’s legal limit for glyphosate on oats, 30 parts per million, was set in 2008,  


Chemicals Linked To Cancer Should Not Be In Your Food, Especially In Children’s Food

“How many bowls of cereal and oatmeal have American kids eaten that came with a  dose of weed killer? That’s a question only General Mills, PepsiCo, and other food  companies can answer,” said EWG President Ken Cook. “But if those companies would  just switch to oats that aren’t sprayed with glyphosate, parents wouldn’t have to wonder  if their kids’ breakfasts contained a chemical linked to cancer. Glyphosate and other  cancer-causing chemicals simply don’t belong in children’s food, period.” 

Glyphosate in Food: List of Breakfast Foods Filled with Glyphosate
Below is a list of oat-based breakfast cereals that contain glyphosate residues. 

EWG Report (source) 

Granola Quaker Simply Granola Oats, Honey & AlmondsInstant oats Quaker Instant  Oatmeal Cinnamon & Spice 

Instant oats Quaker Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon

Instant oats Quaker Real Medleys Super Grains Banana Walnut 

Overnight oats Quaker Overnight Oats Raisin Walnut & Honey Heaven Overnight Oats

Quaker Overnight Oats Unsweetened with Chia Seeds Oat breakfast cereal Quaker Oatmeal Squares Brown Sugar 

Oat breakfast cereal Quaker Oatmeal Squares Honey Nut 

Chlormequat Toxin in Cheerios

Oat breakfast cereal Apple Cinnamon Cheerios 

Oat breakfast cereal Very Berry Cheerios 

Oat breakfast cereal Chocolate Cheerios 

Oat breakfast cereal Frosted Cheerios 

Oat breakfast cereal Fruity Cheerios 

Oat breakfast cereal Honey Nut Cheerios

 


PFAS What They Are 

You may have been hearing about a toxin called PFAS which is classified as a  forever chemical. That means that once it is in our bodies, it stays there forever.  Why is this a problem?  

The studies at the CDC indicate: 

At this time, scientists are still learning about the health effects of exposure to mixtures of different PFAS. 

One way to learn about whether PFAS will harm people is to do studies on lab animals. 

  • Most animal studies have tested doses of PFAS that are higher than the doses people experience from environmental exposure.
  • These animal studies have found that PFAS can cause damage to the liver and the immune system.
  • PFAS have also caused low birth weight, birth defects, delayed development, and newborn deaths in lab animals.

Humans and animals react differently to PFAS, and not all effects observed in animals  may occur in humans. Scientists have ways to estimate how the exposure and effects in animals compared to what they would be in humans. 

Additional research may change our understanding of the relationship between exposure to PFAS and human health effects.

You can learn more in the following articles.

The second one – from the Environmental  Working Group explains that freshwater fish are heavily laced with PFAS. 

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=PFAS+HEALTH+RISKS

https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2023/01/ewg-study-eating-one-freshwater-fish-equals-month-drinking


Potential for Brain Damage

There have been many research programs that clearly demonstrate the potential for brain damage with sports that involve hitting one’s head such as football and soccer. What damage can this cause especially to the developing brain? Well, here is some information for you to  consider: 

Three or more concussions add up to long-term cognitive problems, a study suggests 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jan/31/three-or-more-concussions-add-up-to-long-term-cognitive-problems-study-suggests


Inflammatory Changes And A Newly Recognized Autoimmune Illness

Recently identified inflammatory disease VEXAS syndrome may be more  common than thought, study suggests 

David Adams spent half a decade fighting an illness he couldn’t name. He was in and out of the hospital several times per year. His inflamed joints made his hands feel like they had been squeezed into gloves — and he could no longer play his beloved classical and jazz guitars. 

Here is a study from the National Institute of Health:  

https://www.niams.nih.gov/labs/grayson-lab/vexas 

Read on CNN:  https://apple.news/ADFiYfsxiQlm67nyLgFzRag 


Hope Is On The Way To Prevent Deaths From Opioids And Fentanyl

We are all aware of the seriously escalating deaths from opioids and fentanyl, particularly in our young people. A medication called Narcan can prevent many of these deaths. Now, this medication is becoming much more available – it is starting to appear in vending machines! See what you think……… 

Vending machines with lifesaving drugs grow as opioid crisis rages in US.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/29/narcan-naloxone-us-vending-machines-opioid-crisis