Food safe and glyphosate free coffee - we walk the talk at BioFortune

"We walk the talk" - when we say at #BioFortune that we believe in environmental and sustainable practices, that's exactly what we do. Since our inception, we established that it was a non-negotiable decision not to use any type of #herbicides, pesticides or chemical products that could represent a health risk for the final consumer. We also decided that our products would be microbiological and virus free, via good agricultural and manufacturing practices, as well as using available technologies that could assure this #microbiologicalsafe status.

As farmers and food processors of a pre-COVIDS world, we knew that this decision had implications that required an extra effort, to teach our workers and collaborators the importance of this decisions.

Glyphosate is one of the most damaging herbicides widely used by farmers, to control weeds and reduce labor costs to control them. Glyphosate is also the most widely used broad-spectrum systemic herbicide in the world. Recent evaluations of the carcinogenic potential of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) by various regional, national, and international agencies have engendered controversy. Research has been done to establish an association between high cumulative exposures to GBHs and increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in humans.

For #coffee farming, bees are critical for the pollination process; bees rely on a specialized gut microbiota that benefits growth and provides defense against pathogens. Most bee gut bacteria contain the enzyme targeted by glyphosate, but vary in whether they possess susceptible versions and, correspondingly, in tolerance to glyphosate. Exposing bees to #glyphosate alters the bee gut community and increases susceptibility to infection by opportunistic pathogens. Understanding how glyphosate impacts bee gut symbionts and bee health will help elucidate a possible role of this chemical in colony decline.

Mature bees have eight dominant gut bacterial species. Those strains are responsible for such benefits as promoting weight gain and providing resistance to harmful pathogens. The University of Texas team found almost all of them declined when the bees were exposed to concentrations of glyphosate commonly found in the environment. Young worker bees exposed to glyphosate were more susceptible to dying from infections.

Based on this evidence (which we found abundant sources and references), we decided to never use this chemical in our farms. Most recently, we decided to commit and certify our farms and our processing plant under The Detox Project - #GlyphosateResidueFree seal. We believe that markets and end consumers will value and prefer products; products that can provide evidence that boost well-being and health benefits. Our #coffee, coffee cascara (coffee pulp), coffee #leaves and all our #botanicals, #fruits and vegetables will be certified as #glyphosatefree.

Keeping coliform bacteria counts below required thresholds is a challenge for food processors everywhere. We also engaged in technologies that provide a microbiological safe product: UV-C. UV-C is safe to use, leaves no surface residue, and will not chemically alter food products. We know that we are pioneers in #Honduras in these areas, but we are sure many will follow, since the markets will demand these changes.

In a post-COVID world, companies that #innovate and that #disrupt status quo via #sustainable practices, with food safe products as well as high nutritional value will open markets around the world.