How often foods test positive
Canada’s food inspection agency tested 3,188 foods sold in Canada in 2015 and 2016. About 3 in 10 had a measurable amount of glyphosate. Most amounts were tiny. Only 1.3% were over Canada’s legal limit.
How often each food group had a measurable amount
Canada, 3,188 samples, 2015 to 2016.
| Food group | Samples | Had any | Over Canada’s limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas | 869 | 47% | 0.6% |
| Grains (barley, buckwheat, quinoa) | 869 | 37% | 3.9% |
| Infant cereal | 82 | 32% | 0% |
| Infant food | 127 | 31% | 0% |
| Juice and other drinks | 496 | 16% | 0.2% |
| Processed fruits and vegetables | 165 | 12% | 0% |
| Soy products | 263 | 11% | 0% |
| Fresh fruits and vegetables | 317 | 7% | 0% |
No infant cereal or infant food sample was over the limit. The agency’s conclusion: Health Canada reviewed the data and found no human health concerns. This table shows how often it was found, not how much.
Sources: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Safeguarding with Science: Glyphosate Testing in 2015-2016. The agency counted glyphosate plus its breakdown product, and judged against Canada’s limits, which differ from US limits.
How much is in it
Amounts are in parts per million (ppm). 1 ppm is 1 milligram per kilogram of food.
Foods picked because they were expected to run high
Switzerland, 243 samples.
| Food | Average | Highest sample |
|---|---|---|
| Beans, peas, lentils | 0.17 ppm | 2.9 ppm (1 chickpea sample) |
| Durum wheat products (pasta, semolina) | 0.13 ppm | 0.42 ppm |
| Breakfast cereals | 0.05 ppm | 0.29 ppm |
| Bread | 0.007 ppm | 0.05 ppm |
| Honey, wine, juice | 0.005 ppm or less | 0.02 ppm or less |
A few high samples pull these averages up; most samples had far less. Organic foods: 37 of 43 had too little to measure. Even modelled with the highest chickpea sample, intake reached about 5% of Europe’s daily limit for an adult and about 10% for a child.
Oats bought in the US
A US government lab, 13 oat products.
| Oat product | Amount found |
|---|---|
| Regular oatmeal (4 samples) | 0.06 to 1.1 ppm |
| Regular oat cereal (2 products) | 0.77 to 0.90 ppm |
| Regular oat flour (3 products) | 0.007 to 0.55 ppm |
| Organic oat products (4 products) | 0.03 ppm or less |
For scale: the US legal limit for oats is 30 ppm.
Sources: Zoller et al., Food Additives and Contaminants Part B, 2018 (Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office); Cruz and Murray, Food Chemistry, 2021 (National Institute of Standards and Technology); 40 CFR 180.364. The surveys used different methods, so compare rows within a table, not across tables.
What this means
- Traces are common. Amounts are small. Detection alone doesn’t show harm.
- Beans, lentils, grains and oats carry the most, partly because some crops are sprayed right before harvest to dry them out.
- Organic tests lower, not zero.
- Whether it causes cancer is being re-reviewed after a 2025 rat study that included doses at Europe’s daily limit. Europe’s chemicals agency is due to finalize its review by January 2027, and the EPA expects its own by early 2027.
- I wouldn’t cut beans, lentils or oats. The evidence for fiber is strong, and oat fiber can help lower cholesterol.
Sources: EFSA Journal 2023 e08164 (Europe’s daily limit, 0.5 mg per kg of body weight); Panzacchi et al., Environmental Health 2025; ECHA Risk Assessment Committee, deadline 1 January 2027; EPA glyphosate page, updated 2026-08-26; 21 CFR 101.81.