The Wellness Brew - Issue 16

The Supreme Court just made it harder for consumers to hold pesticide companies accountable for cancer claims. Which means the grocery store is now more important than the courtroom. This week's Deep Dive walks through what the ruling did, what the science actually says about glyphosate (it hasn’t changed), and where it shows up in the foods you probably already buy.

But first, we filtered the noise — here's what's worth knowing this week.

The federal regulatory framework for cell-cultivated meat is now established and five products have cleared the joint FDA-USDA pathway, including cultivated chicken from UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat. The industry, however, is running into significant state-level resistance. Florida and Alabama enacted statutory bans in 2024. Nebraska followed in 2025. South Dakota passed a five-year prohibition in 2026, and Ohio, Tennessee, Iowa, and Mississippi have layered on labeling restrictions or institutional purchase bans. Outside the US, the European Union has not approved any cultivated meat product for sale, and Italy passed an outright ban in 2023. As of mid-2026, cultivated meat is not widely available in US grocery stores. Worth watching as the regulatory and consumer picture evolves. — National Agricultural Law Center, Alternative Proteins Legislative Update, 2026.

A February 2026 study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism tested what Rhonda Patrick has been doing for years: stopping all food at least three hours before bedtime. Participants extended their overnight fast by about three hours and kept the same total calorie intake. After eight weeks, the results were meaningful. Nighttime heart rate dropped by nearly three beats per minute. Heart-rate variability improved during sleep. Nighttime cortisol fell by 12 percent. Blood pressure dipped more deeply overnight, and glucose handling the next morning was measurably better. Sleep duration itself did not change, but the sleep that participants got was more restorative. The practical takeaway is the simplest version of time-restricted eating: finish your last calorie at least three hours before bed, then let the overnight fast happen naturally. If you go to bed at 10pm, stop eating by 7pm. — Rhonda Patrick, FoundMyFitness Newsletter, 2026.

GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro do not just suppress appetite. They appear to actively change taste perception. GLP-1 is not just a gut hormone. It is also expressed directly in taste bud cells, particularly those involved in sweet perception. Some taste buds even produce GLP-1 themselves. When patients take these drugs at therapeutic doses, the GLP-1 signaling in their taste buds is amplified, which appears to dampen the reward response to sweet and ultra-processed foods. A 2025 University of Bayreuth survey of 411 GLP-1 users found that over 20 percent reported foods tasted sweeter or saltier than before. A separate 2024 brain imaging study from the University Medical Centre in Ljubljana showed that women on semaglutide had heightened brain activity in sensory reward regions when tasting sweetness. The bigger picture: the appeal of junk food may be partially neurological. Once that signaling shifts, it can change. — Jensterle Sever et al., Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, 2024.

This past week, the United States Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Monsanto v. Durnell that consumers cannot sue Bayer in state court for failing to warn that Roundup may cause cancer.[1] The case was brought by John Durnell, a Missouri gardener who developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after more than 20 years of Roundup use. A Missouri jury had awarded him $1.25 million in 2023. The Court reversed that judgment this week and effectively closed one of the largest paths to consumer accountability for glyphosate-related harm.

The legal technicalities are worth understanding. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) gives the Environmental Protection Agency authority over pesticide labeling. The EPA has repeatedly concluded that glyphosate is "not likely to cause cancer" – a controversial stance that we’ll get into below – and has not required Roundup's label to include a cancer warning. The Court ruled that because the EPA's labeling determination governs, state-court lawsuits demanding a cancer warning are preempted by federal law. 

What the Court did not do is rule on whether glyphosate causes cancer. The majority opinion explicitly cited the International Agency for Research on Cancer's 2015 classification of glyphosate as a "probable human carcinogen." The ruling is a procedural decision about which level of government regulates pesticide labels and closes the most common path consumers had to hold Monsanto accountable for cancer claims.

Before we get to what to do about it, a few things worth being precise on.

What the ruling does. Blocks state-court failure-to-warn claims. This is the most common type of claim that has driven prior Roundup jury verdicts, including the $2 billion verdict against Bayer in 2019 (later reduced) and other multi-million-dollar awards across more than 100,000 lawsuits.

What the ruling does not do. Block negligence claims, design defect claims, or manufacturing defect claims. Some Roundup litigation will continue under those theories.[2] But the failure-to-warn pathway, which has been the most successful for plaintiffs, is now closed.

The financial picture for Bayer. Bayer has paid over $11 billion to settle prior Roundup claims since acquiring Monsanto in 2018. In February 2026, the company proposed a $7.25 billion settlement to resolve current and future claims. This week's ruling likely reshapes that settlement. Bayer's legal risk just narrowed significantly, and they will negotiate accordingly. Bayer's lawyers have indicated they will still pursue the settlement to "contain the Roundup litigation," but the company's position is materially stronger today than it was yesterday.

The political context. The Trump administration filed in support of Monsanto in this case. In February 2026, the administration issued an executive order designating glyphosate as critical to national security. The administration's position has fractured the Make America Healthy Again coalition that backed Trump in 2024, with MAHA leaders publicly frustrated by the embrace of glyphosate and the support for Bayer. The federal posture on glyphosate is not changing soon, which means consumers cannot rely on regulatory shifts to drive cleaner food.

The Court did not adjudicate the science. So we will.

The IARC classification. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as Group 2A "probably carcinogenic to humans."[3] The classification was based on limited evidence of cancer in humans, sufficient evidence of cancer in experimental animals, and strong evidence of genotoxicity (DNA damage). The IARC review took a year, was conducted by independent experts without conflicts of interest, and considered approximately 1,000 publications.

The June 2025 Ramazzini study. A long-term animal study published in June 2025 in Environmental Health by the Ramazzini Institute followed Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to low doses of glyphosate from prenatal life through their lifespan. The study found multiple types of cancer at doses below current US regulatory safety limits.[4] The authors concluded the findings provide "robust evidence supporting IARC's conclusion." This is the most comprehensive toxicological study ever conducted on glyphosate, and it confirms what the IARC said a decade ago.

The regulatory disagreement. The US EPA continues to classify glyphosate as not likely to be carcinogenic. The IARC and EPA disagreement is one of the most documented regulatory splits in modern toxicology. Investigative reporting by Reuters journalist Carey Gillam, The Intercept, and US Right to Know has documented that Monsanto had significant influence over the EPA's glyphosate review process, including coordinating closely with EPA officials and ghostwriting portions of safety assessments.[5] The IARC operates independently of industry funding. The EPA's process has documented industry-influence problems. 

Beyond cancer. Glyphosate is a documented antimicrobial, which is part of how it kills weeds. The same property disrupts the gut microbiome in mammals, and a growing body of research links chronic low-dose exposure to gut dysbiosis, endocrine disruption, and developmental concerns.[6] Animal studies have documented multigenerational reproductive and developmental effects from prenatal exposure.

The exposure picture. The 2022 CDC biomonitoring data found detectable glyphosate in over 80 percent of US adults and children, with measurable levels also detected in maternal blood and breast milk.[7] This is not a contamination problem affecting a small subset of people. It is essentially universal.

This is the part most people do not know. Glyphosate is not just on a few specialty crops. It is on the staples you eat every day.

Pre-harvest desiccation. Glyphosate is sprayed on grain and legume crops as a pre-harvest drying agent, applied within days of harvest to speed and standardize ripening. This is standard practice in US, Canadian, and Australian conventional farming. Because the herbicide is applied so close to harvest, residue levels in the final grain are typically higher than in crops where glyphosate was only used during the growing season. The plant absorbs glyphosate as it dries, which means residues are not just on the surface. They are inside the grain.

The high-risk foods, in order of concern:

Oat-based products. The single highest-risk category. EWG testing across multiple years has consistently found glyphosate in over 90 percent of conventional oat-based foods.[8] Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats, Quaker Dinosaur Eggs Instant Oatmeal, Cheerios, Lucky Charms, and conventional granola bars including Back to Nature have consistently shown some of the highest concentrations. EWG's 2023 testing found glyphosate above their health benchmark of 160 ppb in nearly 30 percent of conventional samples. None of this appears on the label, and after this week's ruling, none of it has to.

Wheat-based products. Bread, pasta, crackers, breakfast cereals, snack bars, conventional flour. Pre-harvest desiccation is standard practice in US wheat farming. "Non-GMO" and "natural" labels are not the same as glyphosate-free; they are entirely different claims.

Legumes. Lentils, chickpeas, dry beans. Often sprayed pre-harvest in conventional production.

Soy and corn products. Through glyphosate-resistant GM crop cultivation, conventional soybeans and corn are treated with glyphosate throughout the growing season. This affects soy milk, tofu, conventional corn products, and any processed food containing soybean oil, corn syrup, or corn starch.

Honey. Glyphosate has been detected in honey through bees foraging on treated fields.

How to identify clean alternatives:

Two certifications matter:

A few brands worth knowing. Kellogg committed to phasing out pre-harvest glyphosate desiccation in its wheat and oat supply chains in major markets by the end of 2025. This is meaningful because Kellogg is one of the largest grain buyers in North America and the supply chain shift has knock-on effects throughout the industry. Thrive Market has required Detox Project certification from many of its suppliers. One Degree Organics and Bob's Red Mill organic line are reliable choices for oats and wheat flour. These are the brands moving in the right direction. Supporting them with your purchases is the most direct way to push the industry forward now that the legal pressure has lessened.

Beyond glyphosate, conventional fruits and vegetables carry their own pesticide load. The Environmental Working Group's 2026 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce, published in March, analyzed 54,344 samples of 47 fruits and vegetables from USDA testing.[9] 96 percent of Dirty Dozen samples tested positive for pesticide residues.

The 2026 Dirty Dozen: spinach, kale/collard/mustard greens, strawberries, grapes, nectarines, peaches, cherries, apples, blackberries, pears, potatoes, blueberries.

The 2026 finding worth flagging is that for the first time, over 60 percent of Dirty Dozen samples contained pesticides that are also PFAS forever chemicals. Three of the top ten most frequently detected pesticides are now PFAS compounds. The "buy organic for the Dirty Dozen" framework has a stronger rationale than ever before.

The 2026 Clean Fifteen (lowest residue): pineapple, sweet corn, avocados, papaya, onions, frozen sweet peas, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, watermelon, mangoes, bananas, carrots, mushrooms, kiwi. Nearly 60 percent of Clean Fifteen samples had no detectable pesticide residues at all.

Practical framework: buy organic for Dirty Dozen. Buy conventional for Clean Fifteen if budget is tight. Eating more produce always wins over eating less because of pesticide concerns.

This week's ruling closed one path. It did not close all of them.

What you can do:

What you cannot do, at least for now:

The legal system gave consumers less protection this week. The grocery store is now where this fight is fought, and the food companies that are doing the right thing are the ones who deserve your money. The next time you reach for a box of Cheerios or Quaker oats, that is the moment of choice.

Four things you can do this week:

1. Switch your oats and wheat (bread) to organic or Glyphosate Residue-Free.
The single highest-leverage food swap for most American families. Conventional oat-based cereals and wheat products are sprayed with glyphosate at harvest, and the residue is inside the grain, not on it. Look for USDA Organic or the Detox Project Glyphosate Residue Free certification. Brands that consistently meet this standard include One Degree Organics and Bob's Red Mill organic line. For bread, consider a local bakery using organic flour in their sourdough. If you eat oatmeal or bread daily, this single change cuts your dietary glyphosate exposure dramatically.

2. Use the EWG Dirty Dozen as your organic priority list.
The 12 produce items with the highest pesticide residue levels: spinach, kale/collard/mustard greens, strawberries, grapes, nectarines, peaches, cherries, apples, blackberries, pears, potatoes, blueberries. Buy organic for these specifically. For the Clean Fifteen, conventional is fine. Spend the organic budget where it matters most.

3. Vote with your dollar.
The ruling shifts more power to consumers. Support brands that are doing the right thing: Kellogg (phasing out pre-harvest glyphosate desiccation in major markets by end of 2025), smaller organic-first brands like One Degree Organics and Bob's Red Mill, and Thrive Market (requires Detox Project certification from many suppliers). Avoid brands that have shown the highest residues across multiple years of testing.

4. Look for the Glyphosate Residue Free certification on packaged products.
The strongest single signal a brand provides on glyphosate. The Detox Project maintains a directory of certified products at detoxproject.org. Products get certified, not brands. And it’s worth noting that just because a product is glyphosate-free, does not make it healthy. It could still contain many other processed ingredients. For now, the certification is the cleanest single label to look for on packaged foods to avoid glyphosate.

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Wellness, filtered.

The Wellness Brew

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Disclaimer: The Wellness Brew is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The content published here is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your diet, supplement routine, or lifestyle.