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Background: Although animal studies have shown that exposure to glyphosate (a commonly used herbicide) does not result in glyphosate bioaccumulation in tissues, to our knowledge there are no published data on whether it is detectable in human milk and therefore consumed by breastfed infants., Objective: We sought to determine whether glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) could be detected in milk and urine produced by lactating women and, if so, to quantify typical consumption by breastfed infants., Design: We collected milk (n = 41) and urine (n = 40) samples from healthy lactating women living in and around Moscow, Idaho and Pullman, Washington. Milk and urine samples were analyzed for glyphosate and AMPA with the use of highly sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods validated for and optimized to each sample matrix., Results: Our milk assay, which was sensitive down to 1 μg/L for both analytes, detected neither glyphosate nor AMPA in any milk sample. Mean ± SD glyphosate and AMPA concentrations in urine were 0.28 ± 0.38 and 0.30 ± 0.33 μg/L, respectively. Because of the complex nature of milk matrixes, these samples required more dilution before analysis than did urine, thus decreasing the sensitivity of the assay in milk compared with urine. No difference was found in urine glyphosate and AMPA concentrations between subjects consuming organic compared with conventionally grown foods or between women living on or near a farm/ranch and those living in an urban or suburban nonfarming area., Conclusions: Our data provide evidence that glyphosate and AMPA are not detectable in milk produced by women living in this region of the US Pacific Northwest. By extension, our results therefore suggest that dietary glyphosate exposure is not a health concern for breastfed infants. This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02670278., (© 2016 American Society for Nutrition.)

Background: The benefits of omega-3 (n-3) long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids to heart health are well established. Stearidonic acid (SDA, 18:4n-3) may contribute to these benefits., Objective: The objective was to evaluate the ability of SDA-containing soybean oil to increase the omega-3 index [erythrocyte eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) + docosahexaenoic acid, as a percentage of total fatty acids] and to affect other cardiovascular disease risk markers compared with EPA and regular soy oil (control)., Design: This was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind multicenter study in which 252 overweight subjects were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments for 12 wk: 1 g encapsulated soybean oil/d plus 14.7 g liquid soybean oil/d to be mixed in food (control group), 1 g encapsulated EPA/d plus 14.7 g liquid soybean oil/d (EPA group), and 1 g encapsulated soybean oil/d plus 14.7 g liquid SDA-enriched soybean oil/d, providing 4.2 g SDA (SDA group). Subjects consumed treatment oils in exchange for other oils in their diet., Results: The mean (±SE) baseline omega-3 index was similar between treatments, but after 12 wk of treatment values for this index were 4.15 ± 0.12%, 4.84 ± 0.13%, and 4.69 ± 0.15% for control, EPA, and SDA groups, respectively. Values for the EPA and SDA groups were greater than those for control subjects in the intent-to-treat population (P < 0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively). No adverse treatment-related effects of SDA-enriched soybean oil were reported., Conclusions: SDA-enriched soybean oil increased the omega-3 index by raising erythrocyte EPA concentrations. SDA-enriched soybean oil is a land-based n-3 fatty acid that is a sustainable approach to increasing tissue concentrations of long-chain polyunsaturated n-3 fatty acids.