TWN Info Service on Biosafety
6 May 2026
Third World Network
www.twn.my
Dear Friends and Colleagues
First GM Wheat Approved in the US Could Pose Serious Risks
Friends of the Earth has warned that the U.S. government’s approval of HB4 genetically engineered wheat, to be grown and sold for human consumption, could pose serious risks to public health, the environment, and farmers’ livelihoods (Item 1).
The approval of HB4 wheat marks a critical turning point after decades of public opposition and trade concerns that kept GM wheat off U.S. fields. However, it is not currently being grown (yet) commercially in the U.S. Friends of the Earth is calling on companies and consumers to reject HB4 GM wheat before it enters the market.
HB4 is engineered to tolerate glufosinate, a highly hazardous herbicide that is 166 times more toxic than the herbicide glyphosate. Glufosinate is banned in the European Union because it’s toxic to reproduction. Research links it to premature birth, miscarriage, stillbirth, and birth defects in offspring (Item 2). It is also linked to negative impacts on soil and ecosystem health.
HB4 wheat would extend a failed, toxic GM crop system to a global staple food. Wheat is the third most widely grown crop in the United States, with roughly 44% exported each year. GM wheat has failed commercialization in the U.S. multiple times due to serious trade concerns. Major trading partners, including Mexico, Japan, and the Philippines, do not accept GM wheat. Even limited commercialization of HB4 could jeopardize export markets and disrupt supply chains. There’s also the risk that non-GM wheat would be contaminated with HB4, leading to economic loss (Item 3). Furthermore, HB4’s ‘drought-tolerance’ marketing is not substantiated by independent research. Analyses of available data suggest HB4 may in fact yield less than conventional wheat, even in dry years.
Friends of the Earth concludes that introducing GM wheat would accelerate chemical-intensive industrial agriculture, deepen corporate control over seeds, and expose farmers and consumers to unnecessary risks. Instead, it calls for comprehensive reform of U.S. regulations grounded in the precautionary principle and investment in agroecology, including the expansion of organic agriculture.
With best wishes,
Third World Network
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Item 1
NEW REPORT WARNS AGAINST GENETICALLY ENGINEERED WHEAT, CITING HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND ECONOMIC RISKS
Friends of the Earth
https://foe.org/news/new-report-genetically-engineered-wheat/
9 March 2026
WASHINGTON— A new report from Friends of the Earth raises alarm over the U.S. government’s recent approval of HB4 genetically engineered (GMO) wheat, warning that it could pose serious risks to public health, the environment, and U.S. farmers’ livelihoods — while offering no proven benefit.
The approval of HB4 wheat marks a critical turning point: after decades of public opposition and trade concerns that kept GMO wheat off U.S. fields, consumers now face the prospect of herbicide-tolerant wheat entering the food system. However, it is not currently being grown commercially in the U.S. Friends of the Earth is calling on companies and consumers to reject HB4 GMO wheat before it enters the market.
Developed by the Argentine biotechnology firm Bioceres Crop Solutions, HB4 wheat is engineered to tolerate the toxic herbicide glufosinate ammonium. Glufosinate is banned in the European Union because it poses risks to human health. It is also linked to negative impacts on soil and ecosystem health.
“GMO wheat poses high risks with no clear benefits. It threatens farmers, consumers, and ecosystems,” said Dana Perls, senior program manager at Friends of the Earth. “Companies and consumers should reject genetically engineered wheat and support proven, sustainable solutions. Organic farming and traditional breeding protect climate, biodiversity, and food security — without toxic trade-offs.”
The report unpacks the regulatory gaps, health implications, environmental concerns, and trade risks at stake. Key findings include:
We’ve been here before — and it failed.
HB4 wheat is not innovation, it is a repetition of a well-documented failure — the chemical-dependent model introduced with Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” crops in the 1990s. GMO crops have driven massive increases in herbicide use, spawned herbicide-resistant superweeds, and trapped farmers on a costly pesticide treadmill. Glufosinate-tolerant corn and soy are already following the same path. HB4 wheat would extend this failed, toxic system to a global staple food — deepening chemical dependence, increasing costs for farmers, and compounding environmental damage.
GMO wheat poses major trade and economic risks for farmers. Wheat is the third most widely grown crop in the United States, with roughly 44% exported each year, representing billions of dollars in farm income. GMO wheat has failed commercialization in the U.S. multiple times due to serious trade concerns. Major trading partners — including Mexico, Japan, and the Philippines — do not accept GMO wheat. Even limited commercialization of HB4 could trigger trade disruptions or contamination of non-GMO wheat supplies, echoing past incidents that cost U.S. farmers millions of dollars. Even farmers who don’t plant HB4 could suffer, as genetic contamination and supply-chain mixing could jeopardize all U.S. wheat exports. Meanwhile, GMO seeds undermine farmers’ economic sovereignty by locking them into restrictive contracts with powerful seed and chemical corporations.
Glufosinate is linked to serious human health concerns. HB4 wheat is designed to withstand glufosinate, a highly hazardous herbicide banned in the European Union due to unacceptable risks to reproduction. Research links glufosinate to premature birth, miscarriage, stillbirth, skeletal birth defects, and autism-like behaviors in offspring.
According to EPA assessments, glufosinate is 166x more toxic than the herbicide glyphosate in terms of long-term exposure. Because glufosinate can be sprayed directly on HB4 wheat, the approval of HB4 could increase residues of the toxic herbicide in food such as breads, pastas, and cereals. Pregnant people and children are the most vulnerable populations.
Glufosinate is linked to environmental harm. The report documents evidence that glufosinate is harmful to soil organisms, pollinators, and aquatic life, threatening biodiversity and long-term farm resilience. The chemical is also highly mobile, increasing the risk of soil and water pollution.
HB4 was approved under a flawed regulatory process. The report finds that the federal government didn’t require a thorough assessment of potential health and environmental risks and relied on voluntary industry data with no requirement for independent testing to determine that HB4 is “safe” for human consumption.
HB4’s ‘drought-tolerance’ marketing is not substantiated by independent research. Despite being promoted as a climate solution, HB4 wheat lacks independent evidence demonstrating superior performance under drought conditions. Analyses of company and government data suggest it may actually yield less than conventional wheat, even in dry years. The report emphasizes that drought tolerance is a complex trait better achieved through traditional, non-GMO plant breeding and agroecological approaches.
The report concludes that introducing GMO wheat would accelerate chemical-intensive industrial agriculture, deepen corporate control over seeds, and expose farmers and consumers to unnecessary risks. Instead, it calls for comprehensive reform of U.S. GMO regulations grounded in the precautionary principle and investment in agroecology, including the expansion of organic agriculture. GMOs, along with more than 900 synthetic pesticides, including glufosinate, are prohibited in organic farming.
Contact: Kendra Klein, PhD, 415-350-5957, kklein@foe.org
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Item 2
OP-ED | A TOXIC TURN FOR OUR DAILY BREAD: WHY GMO WHEAT RAISES SERIOUS CONCERNS
https://foodtank.com/news/2026/03/a-toxic-turn-for-our-daily-bread-why-gmo-wheat-raises-serious-concerns/
Kendra Klein
9 March 2026
For decades, genetically engineered wheat has been kept off American fields—because farmers, consumers, and trading partners alike recognize the serious risks it poses. Today, that long-standing consensus is at risk of unraveling.
The U.S. government recently approved a genetically engineered wheat called HB4 to be grown and sold for human consumption. This marks a troubling turning point for our food system. HB4 is engineered to tolerate glufosinate, a highly hazardous herbicide. Glufosinate is banned in the European Union because it’s toxic to reproduction. Research links it to premature birth, miscarriage, stillbirth, and birth defects in offspring. According to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, glufosinate is significantly more chronically toxic than glyphosate, another herbicide that’s been the focus of public outcry.
Because it goes together with glufosinate, this genetically modified organism, or GMO, wheat could lead to increased residues of this toxic chemical in common foods like bread, pasta, and cereals.
A new report from Friends of the Earth makes clear that GMO wheat offers high risks, no clear benefits, and moves us further away from the safe, healthy, regenerative food system we urgently need. Along with harm to human health, glufosinate can harm soil organisms, pollinators, and aquatic life—undermining the very ecological foundations of agriculture.
HB4 wheat is not innovation, it is a repetition of a well-documented failure—the chemical-dependent model introduced with Monsanto’s glyphosate-tolerant Roundup Ready crops in the 1990s. Those GMO crops drove massive increases in herbicide use, spawned herbicide-resistant superweeds, and trapped farmers on a costly pesticide treadmill. Glufosinate-tolerant crops like corn and soy are already following the same path.
HB4 wheat would extend this failed, toxic system to one of the world’s most important staple foods—deepening chemical dependence, increasing costs for farmers, and compounding environmental damage, while delivering no proven public benefit.
The implications for farmers are especially serious. Wheat is the third most widely-grown crop in the United States, and about 44 percent of U.S. wheat is exported—representing billions of dollars in farm income. Yet major trading partners, including Mexico, Japan, and the Philippines, do not accept genetically engineered wheat.
Even limited commercialization of HB4 could jeopardize export markets and disrupt supply chains. This is not a hypothetical concern. Past incidents involving unapproved GMO crop contamination triggered import suspensions and cost U.S. farmers millions of dollars.
Because wheat systems are highly interconnected, farmers who choose not to plant GMO wheat could still be harmed by genetic contamination and commingling. Once again, farmers would shoulder the risks of a technology that primarily benefits seed and chemical corporations.
Despite these risks, HB4 was approved through a deeply flawed regulatory process. Regulators did not require independent research, accepting voluntary data from the manufacturer to conclude the wheat is “safe.” Nor did agencies require a thorough assessment of cumulative health, environmental, or economic impacts. This approach places corporate assurances above precaution—and leaves the public to bear the consequences.
Even the central marketing claim behind HB4—that it offers drought tolerance—doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Independent evidence demonstrating superior performance under drought conditions is lacking. Analyses of available data suggest HB4 may yield less than conventional wheat, even in dry years. Drought tolerance is a complex trait shaped by soil health, crop diversity, and management practices—not a single engineered gene.
If we are serious about climate resilience, doubling down on chemical-intensive agriculture is the wrong path. True climate solutions already exist, and they don’t require toxic trade-offs. Agroecological approaches—such as organic farming, diversified crop rotations, cover cropping, and regionally adapted plant breeding—have been shown to improve soil health, increase water retention, reduce input costs, and strengthen farm resilience in the face of climate extremes.
Organic agriculture, which prohibits GMOs and more than 900 synthetic pesticides, offers a powerful example of how we can produce food while protecting biodiversity, public health, and farmer livelihoods. These systems build resilience from the ground up, rather than relying on chemical crutches that ultimately fail.
The approval of GMO wheat threatens to lock us into a past we should be moving beyond. Instead of repeating the mistakes of the last 30 years, we have an opportunity to invest in solutions that truly serve farmers, consumers, and the planet.
Friends of the Earth is calling on food companies, policymakers, and consumers to reject HB4 genetically engineered wheat—now, before it is grown at commercial scale in the U.S. Our food system cannot afford another costly experiment in chemical dependence. We need courage to choose a different path—one rooted in science and care for our health, our planet, and the communities that feed us.
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Item 3
REPORT RAISES ALARM OVER GMO WHEAT AS IT INCHES CLOSER TO US FIELDS
By Brian Bienkowski
The New Lede
https://www.thenewlede.org/2026/03/gmo-crops-wheat-herbicides/
10 March 2026
A genetically modified wheat under development in the US would increase the use of an herbicide that is linked to soil, water and fetal harm, according to a new report.
The report, from the environmental organization Friends of the Earth (FOE), comes six months after agricultural organizations announced they are partnering to develop what would be the first genetically modified (GMO) wheat, called HB4, commercially available in the US. Proponents of HB4 say it is drought-tolerant and will bolster food security and help farmers grow wheat in a changing climate.
FOE said that HB4 — which was approved by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2024 — would prompt more use of the herbicide glufosinate, which scientific studies have linked to premature births, impaired fetal development, kidney problems and disruption of the gut microbiome. HB4 is engineered to withstand glufosinate, which can be sprayed directly on the wheat and will only kill weeds. The FOE report also warns that HB4 could hamper US exports since not all importing countries accept GMO wheat, and it would harm US farmers that are not using GMO wheat by contaminating their fields.
“If some farmers choose to grow this GMO wheat it actually imperils all wheat farmers because those wheat supply chains would not be segregated,” said Kendra Klein, senior staff scientist at Friends of the Earth. “So there’s the problem of the commingling of the GMO wheat and the non-GMO wheat.”
“Climate resilient” wheat
Previous GMO wheat attempts in the US — including from Monsanto for Roundup-Ready wheat — have not received approval. The USDA 2024 decision, which relied on industry studies, deregulated HB4 as the agency found no increased plant pest risk from its use.
“From a plant pest risk perspective, this modified plant may be safely grown and bred in the United States,” the USDA stated in its decision. The agency did not respond to requests for comment on the FOE report or ongoing HB4 development.
At the time of the USDA decision, industry leaders said commercialization was still three to five years away. The Argentinian agricultural company Bioceres Crop Solutions and the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation last September announced a partnership to develop HB4 as a “climate-resilient” wheat for use in the US. The press release said the two organizations would start breeding programs and, alongside industry partners, “develop, register, and commercialize new broad-spectrum herbicide formulations tailored for HB4 wheat.” It also said HB4 would be available to any public or private US wheat breeding programs through an open licensing model.
“This is an important milestone for the wheat industry and sets the stage for long-term innovation in this important crop,” said Brad Erker, executive director at the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation, in a statement. The Foundation did not return requests for comment on the FOE report or the status of HB4 development.
Health concerns
Glufosinate use is already on the rise in the US, where it is already used on GMO corn, soybeans, cotton and canola. Several major agricultural companies including Bayer, BASF, Syngenta and Corteva manufacture formulations of the herbicide.
HB4 would allow farmers to spray glufosinate directly onto the wheat since it would be tolerant of the herbicide, leading to much broader exposure since wheat forms a large part of many Americans’ diets. The US Environmental Protection Agency said it found “no human health risks of concern” in its 2024 registration of glufosinate. However, an agency assessment in 2022 said a primary effect of exposure is “inhibition of glutamine synthetase in the brain, which may be of significant concern for possible neurotoxicity.” The herbicide was banned in the European Union in 2018 over evidence that it had reproductive impacts on people exposed.
“In this moment when people are increasingly paying attention to pesticides and their impacts on our health, and their impact on the environment, it’s really concerning that an herbicide-tolerant wheat is being proposed,” said Klein, pointing to recent news and lawsuits about glyphosate — an herbicide widely used on GMO crops that has been linked to cancer.
HB4 is “replicating the deeply flawed and failed model of herbicide-tolerant corn and soybeans,” she added.
In addition to human health concerns, glufosinate has been linked to disrupted soil microbial communities and pollinator harm.
GMO contamination risk
The US is the fourth-largest wheat producer in the world, with exports bringing in $6.3 billion in 2025. FOE warns that HB4 threatens this key market, as several countries that import US wheat, including Japan, Mexico and the Philippines, have not approved the sale of GMO wheat. Previous attempts to commercialize GMO wheat in the US have largely been rejected over similar trade disruption concerns.
There’s also the risk that non-GMO wheat would be contaminated with HB4, leading to economic loss. For example, in 2013 Monsanto GMO wheat was found in Oregon and Montana, which led to Japan and South Korea suspending US imports and several other countries ramping up their testing of US wheat imports. Monsanto did not admit liability but later reached a settlement, paying $250,000 to several wheat growers’ associations and $2.1 million into a settlement fund for Washington, Oregon and Idaho wheat farmers.
“Almost half of wheat in the US is exported and so those export markets are really critical for farmers and this is not a theoretical concern,” Klein said. “There’s been commingling of GMO crops with non-GMO crops and export markets have temporarily shut down costing farmers millions of dollars.”