One of the oatmeals tested twice, Quaker Instant Oatmeal Cinnamon & Spice, was found to have "safe" levels of glyphosate below EWG's health benchmark of 160 ppb. However, there were still trace amounts of the chemical detected — 128 ppb in the first test, 45 ppb in the second.
An update from the Quaker Media Team on Oct. 25, 2018: "We proudly stand by the safety and quality of our Quaker products. Quaker does not add glyphosate during any part of the milling process. Glyphosate is commonly used by farmers across the industry who apply it preharvest. Once the oats are transported to us, we put them through our rigorous process that thoroughly cleanses them (dehulling, cleaning, roasting, and flaking). Any minimal levels of glyphosate that may remain in finished products where oats are an ingredient are significantly below regulatory limits and well within compliance of the safety standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, Health Canada, and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as safe for human consumption. The EWG report artificially creates a 'safe level' for glyphosate that is detached from those that have been established by responsible regulatory bodies in an effort to grab headlines, and has the potential to falsely alarm consumers, leading them to avoid consumption of many oat-based foods that are proven to be beneficial for the human diet. We believe EWG's approach is invalid, and we stand behind our statement that the Quaker products tested by EWG are safe. Producing healthy, wholesome food is Quaker's number one priority, and we've been doing that for more than 140 years."
