We’re calling on government to Cut the Chemicals from our Food and Fields – will you join us?

12 May 2026

The Soil Association is urging citizens to sign its petition calling for a pre-harvest ban on glyphosate - campaign co-ordinator Cathy Cliff explains why:

In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2A). This followed studies in laboratory animals which found evidence that glyphosate is linked to cancer.

We launched Not in our Bread that same year in response. Our campaign urged UK bread companies and major retailers to stop using wheat treated with glyphosate pre-harvest. Some bread companies stopped sourcing from farms using glyphosate to dry crops pre-harvest altogether. Not in our Bread also called on government to ban pre-harvest desiccation.

Ten years on and our concerns about this practice are even greater - so we’ve launched our new campaign, Cut the Chemicals from our Food and Fields. We're calling on the UK government to take stronger action on pesticides - starting with glyphosate.

We’re exposed to glyphosate through multiple routes

Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide and the most widely used pesticide in the world. No other pesticide - the collective name for insecticides, herbicides and fungicides - is used on such a large scale. In recent years, enough glyphosate has been applied each year to spread around two-thirds of a kilogram of active ingredient across every hectare of harvested cropland in the world.

Glyphosate is applied as a weedkiller on farmland, often multiple times throughout the growing season. It's also used for weed control on golf courses, sports fields, in public parks and on roadsides and pavements. It's sold in supermarkets and garden centres for use in private gardens.

Citizens are mainly exposed to glyphosate via residues in food and drink. Most of this exposure can be traced to the use of the herbicide to dry out crops close to harvest.

We should be concerned about residues in our food

A major 2025 study by scientists from Europe and the US, working as part of the Global Glyphosate Study, found that low doses of glyphosate caused several types of cancer in rats. The doses, administered in drinking water, were equivalent to levels currently considered ‘safe’ for humans by regulators.

Other research from the Global Glyphosate Study concluded that exposure to glyphosate impacted the endocrine (or hormone-secretion) system in rats. It also altered reproductive development, caused liver and kidney damage and changed gut bacteria.

Although it's not clear yet how closely these findings mirror health effects in humans, there's strong evidence showing that glyphosate is present in our bodies. Scientists - including 50 experts who gathered in Seattle in March to review the past decade of research on glyphosate exposure - said the risks are too great for delays in regulation to be justified.

There is growing evidence from animal studies and population research that glyphosate harms all systems in the body. Banning glyphosate as a pre-harvest desiccant would reduce that exposure by cutting residues in food.

There is precedent for a ban

A ban has already been introduced in the European Union. It’s time we followed suit in the UK. With support from both the government and supply chain, farmers can transition away from this harmful practice.

The UK and EU are currently negotiating a new trade deal. This deal could require the UK to align with EU pesticide rules, including those covering glyphosate. The details, including on conditions of use, are still being negotiated. Ahead of this, we're mobilising support for a ban on glyphosate’s use as a pre-harvest desiccant before the planned UK-EU summit in July.

Many farmers are already managing without glyphosate to dry out crops

One farmer who has reduced chemical use on farm, including glyphosate is Emma Loder-Symonds from Nonington Farms in Kent. In our campaign film, she says “I think that it would make everyone feel better knowing that the food they’re about to eat is no longer sprayed with glyphosate”.

We agree. If you do too, sign our petition calling on the UK government to end the use of glyphosate as a pre-harvest drying agent - and support farmers to develop alternatives to the practice.

We’re calling on government to Cut the Chemicals from our Food and Fields – will you join us?