It's all just talk

Wheat plants genetically engineered to resist the Monsanto herbicide Roundup have been detected in a Washington state field, although there’s no evidence to suggest the grain has entered the food supply, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

Asian and European buyers have in the past halted purchases from entire regions when modified strains of unapproved wheat were discovered.

The U.S. has for many years embraced GE crops such as soybeans and cotton, but no such wheat varieties have been approved for sale or commercial production in the U.S.

In 2013, a farmer in Oregon trying to kill stray wheat with herbicide found several plants that survived the chemical. Scientists determined the wheat was a strain field-tested from 1998 to 2005 and deemed safe before Monsanto pulled the seeds from the regulatory approval process on concern that importers would reject the crop.

Last year (2018), Japan suspended imports of Canadian wheat for a month after the discovery of genetically modified strains in Alberta, according to the nation’s agricultural ministry.