Group Promoting 'Just 1 Drink Causes Cancer' Stands Alone in Herbicide and Cancer Case: Judge

The same French-based group that is key to promoting the idea that any amount of alcohol poses a cancer risk has also been a key promoter of the idea that glyphosate – a key ingredient in RoundUp – is "probably carcinogenic."

Based on IARC's statement, California adopted a regulation requiring products containing glyphosate to have a warning label implying the chemical causes cancer – a statement with which RoundUp's maker, Monsanto Co., vehemently disagrees.

In a First Amendment case decided Nov. 7, the 9th U .S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted that many organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency, have said the herbicide is safe.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer "essentially stands alone" in determining glyphosate is probably carcinogenic, Judge Consuelo Callahan wrote for the majority.

"From the standpoint of an average consumer, saying that something is carcinogenic or has serious deleterious health effects — without a strong scientific consensus that it does — remains controversial," Callahan wrote.