Florida says bread contains weed killer. Here’s what the science says.
Tests found trace glyphosate in bread at a tiny fraction of federal safety limits. You’d need to eat about 18,850 slices a day to reach them.
Should Americans be worried about weed killer in their bread?
Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, who helps lead the state’s version of the Make America Healthy Again movement, recently said the Healthy Florida First initiative tested popular bread brands, revealing “triple-digit” levels of the herbicide glyphosate.
“Glyphosate is a weed killer,” DeSantis said. “It’s the main ingredient you find in Roundup and other weed-killing brands. It’s designed to kill plants, it is not meant to be eaten.”
Related Knowledge Center: Fact-checking and its detractors
Fact-checking has become a familiar tool for political reporters to hold office-holders and candidates accountable. But critics ask if fact-checkers sometimes miss the forest for the trees, and if the practice often struggles with false equivalency the way conventional political coverage does.