Nature Valley drops ‘100% Natural’ label after allegations of weed-killer in products

General Mills will drop the “Made with 100% Natural Whole Grain Oats” label from its Nature Valley Granola Bars after settling a lawsuit brought by three nonprofit consumer groups alleging that the bars contained weed-killer. 

The complaint, brought by Beyond Pesticides, the Organic Consumers Association and Moms Across America, was filed in August 2016 and accused Nature Valley granola bars of having glyphosate, a widely used herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup.

{mosads}Thursday’s announcement comes after the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that, of 45 products made from oats it tested, all but two contained glyphosate. Nature Valley Granola Bars were among the products identified as having potentially unsafe levels of glyphosate, according to Newsweek. The other products in that category included Back to Nature Classic Granola, Lucky Charms and Quaker Simply Granola Oats.

“Nature Valley is confident in the accuracy of its label,” General Mills said in a statement Thursday to Bloomberg News.

EWG President Ken Cook said in a statement last week that “no one wants to eat a weed killer for breakfast, and no one should have to do so.”

“We will petition the Environmental Protection Agency to do its job and end uses of glyphosate that resulted in the contamination we report today,” Cook said. “But we very much doubt our petition will be acted upon by President Trump’s lawless EPA. So we’re calling on the companies to make these iconic products with clean ingredients.”