Despite their GMO-free status, testing completed at Anresco, a laboratory registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), found glyphosate residues in Cheerios as well as other popular foods.

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, has made headlines recently because it's the most used agricultural chemical in history and also because the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) determined it is a probable carcinogen.

The latest tests, conducted by the nonprofit organizations Food Democracy Now and The Detox Project, were done via liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), which is considered the most reliable for analyzing glyphosate residues.

Twenty-nine common foods were tested, with glyphosate residues found in a variety of products, including Doritos, Oreos, Stacys Pita Chips and the following:

General Mills Cheerios (1,125.3 parts per billion [ppb])
Kashi soft-baked oatmeal dark chocolate cookies (275.57 ppb)
Ritz Crackers (270.24 ppb)

It's important for individuals and parents to understand that glyphosate contamination cannot be removed by washing and is not broken down by cooking or baking. Glyphosate residues can remain stable in food for a year or more, even if the foods are frozen or processed.