The thread triggered the overheated discussion detector, formerly known as the flamewar detector, which is software that kicks in when a discussion seems to be generating more heat than light. We monitor those software penalties pretty closely, and turn them off in cases where the thread was just happily active. I don't think this discussion meets that bar, though. Diet threads are surprisingly prone to repetitiveness and anger, as are threads about GMOs, and this one alas combines the two.

> Could this be censorship requested by investors, related to YCombinator? Does this sometimes happen?

No. YC wouldn't ask us to do something that stupid. The trust of this community is approximately 100% of the value that HN has for YC. Neither YC partners nor we on the HN side would ever jeopardize that.

Thanks for your reply.

Just guessing.

56 comments, 39 points.

Not always true, but more comments than points is often an indicator that the spam protection will trigger. Which it sounds like it did here. So got weighted off the front page.

Thanks, good to know. Hopefully its just that and a moderator can check in at some point.

Related story: https://www.momsacrossamerica.com/gmo_impossible_burger_posi...

> The levels of glyphosate detected in the Impossible burger by Health Research Institute Laboratories were 11 X higher than the Beyond Meat Burger. The total result (glyphosate and it’s break down AMPA) was 11.3 ppb. Moms Across America also tested the Beyond Meat Burger and the results were 1 ppb.

> “We are shocked to find that the Impossible Burger can have up to 11X higher levels of glyphosate residues than the Beyond Meat Burger according to these samples tested. This new product is being marketed as a solution for “healthy” eating, when in fact 11 ppb of glyphosate herbicide consumption can be highly dangerous. Only 0.1 ppb of glyphosate has been shown to alter the gene function of over 4000 genes in the livers, kidneys and cause severe organ damage in rats

Question(s): Is the lab result significant or not? Is it fairly common for other veggie products in the US to show similar levels? What is the safe level according to the FDA?

I can't really image 11 ppb is significant for glyphosate. That's below the historic 20 ppb threshold for lead.

I'm not sure where the .1 ppb study comes from, it'd be interesting.

Edit: The .1 ppb comes from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9ralini_affair

To get both sides of the story, I encourage reading the official rebuttal against that article: https://assets.ctfassets.net/hhv516v5f7sj/77NQsg1qDb6d9Hi4PB...

I don’t know but Moms Across America is 100% not a credible source for anything. If they’re right it’s a “stopped clock” situation.

The EPA safe level is about 140 mg/day for an average adult. There are proposals in progress to lower that.

https://www.ewg.org/research/california-proposes-safe-level-...

11.3 ppb would be 1.2ug per burger then, right?

I linked it above too, but 1ppm (1000ppb) is the proposed EPA guideline, but 20x that is proposed for soybeans:

https://www.regulations.gov/contentStreamer?documentId=EPA-H...

I’d be curious to hear what the guidelines are outside of north america.

> Only 0.1 ppb of glyphosate has been shown to alter the gene function of over 4000 genes in the livers, kidneys and cause severe organ damage in rats

How true is this? That number seems pretty low.

Sounds like utter bullshit to me. 0.1 ppb causing severe organ damage? This cannot possibly be true. The LD50 of glyphosate in rats is 5,600 mg/kg, or 56 million times that concentration.