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U.S. consumer groups, scientists and food companies are testing substances ranging from breakfast cereal to breast milk for residues of the world's most widely used herbicide on rising concerns over its possible links to disease. The focus is on glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Testing has increased in the last two years, but scientists say requests spiked after a World Health Organization research unit said last month it was classifying glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans."

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday more than doubled the number of U.S. states where Dow AgroSciences' controversial new herbicide can be used.The EPA approved Enlist Duo on Oct. 15 with a series of restrictions aimed at addressing potential environmental and health hazards. At that time it said the herbicide could be used in six states - Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

U.S. regulators will put new restrictions on the world's most widely used herbicide to help address the rapid expansion of weeds resistant to the chemical, Reuters has learned.The Environmental Protection Agency confirmed it will require a weed resistance management plan for glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto's immensely popular Roundup weed-killer.

An environmental activist group has filed a legal petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeking new rules that would enhance job protection for government scientists whose research questions the safety of farm chemicals. The action filed on Thursday by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an advocacy group for local, state and federal researchers, came less than a week after a World Health Organization group found the active ingredient in Roundup, the world's best-selling weed killer, is "probably carcinogenic to humans." Roundup is made by Monsanto Co.

A World Health Organization group's controversial finding that the world's most popular herbicide "probably is carcinogenic to humans" was based on a thorough scientific review and is a key marker in ongoing evaluations of the product, the scientist who led the study said Thursday."There were several studies. There was sufficient evidence in animals, limited evidence in humans and strong supporting evidence showing DNA mutations . and damaged chromosomes," Aaron Blair, a scientist emeritus at the National Cancer Institute, said in an interview.

Monsanto Co, maker of the world's most widely used herbicide, Roundup, wants an international health organization to retract a report linking the chief ingredient in Roundup to cancer.The company said on Tuesday that the report, issued on Friday by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), was biased and contradicts regulatory findings that the ingredient, glyphosate, is safe when used as labeled.

An environmental group sued the U.S. government on Friday, accusing regulators of discounting the dangers of a widely used herbicide on the declining monarch butterfly population.The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in U.S. District Court in New York. The suit claimed the agency has failed to heed warnings about the dangers to monarchs posed by glyphosate, the key ingredient in a widely used herbicide. Glyphosate is used in Monsanto Co's Roundup and other herbicides.

U.S. regulators on Friday approved what would be the first commercialized biotech apple, rejecting efforts by the organic industry and other GMO critics to block the new fruit.The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved two genetically engineered apple varieties designed to resist browning that have been developed by the Canadian company Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc.

Processing lines at some U.S. hog slaughterhouses are moving too fast for inspectors to adequately address contamination and food safety concerns, according to an advocacy group that says it has obtained affidavits from four government meat inspectors. In the affidavits, released Friday by the Government Accountability Project, a "whistle-blower protection" organization, the inspectors detail experiences inside pork-processing plants participating in a pilot program engineered by the USDA to speed up lines while improving food safety and trim inspection costs.

Monsanto Co. received final U.S. approval on Thursday for herbicide-tolerant crops to be used with a new herbicide the company says will fight problematic weed resistance on farm fields, but critics say will only worsen the problems. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said the genetically modified cotton and soybean plants are granted "non-regulated" status. Monsanto is still waiting for final approval from the Environmental Protection Agency for the herbicide it designed to be used with the crops.