EDITED
Six consumers are leading a Wisconsin Roundup class action lawsuit
against Monsanto, alleging the agrochemical giant falsely promoted
its top-selling Roundup weed killer as interfering with an enzyme
found in plants but not “in people or pets” when microbiota found
in the human gut, mucous membranes and skin do depend on that
enzyme’s proper functioning.
The Roundup class action lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in U.S.
District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin by a class of
plaintiffs from California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New
York, and Wisconsin. The plaintiffs are represented by the law
firms of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman P.C., Richman Law
Group, Miller Firm LLC, Andrus Wagstaff LLP, Gabrielli Levitt LLP,
Kennedy & Madonna LLP, Turke & Strauss LLP, and Weitz
& Luxenburg P.C.
The defendants in the case are Monsanto and Scotts Miracle-Gro Co.
For many years, Monsanto’s marketing on several Roundup products
has claimed and continues to claim that glyphosate targets an
enzyme not found “in people or pets.” But according to the Roundup
class action lawsuit, this statement is “false, misleading, and
deceptive, as the enzyme that glyphosate targets is found in
people and pets — specifically, in beneficial gut bacteria…”
Glyphosate kills weeds by interfering with the “shikimate
pathway,” a metabolic sequence that synthesizes vital amino acids.
Glyphosate disrupts the shikimate pathway by interfering with
5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP), an enzyme synthase that
governs aromatic amino acid formation.
The beneficial bacteria in our gut (and the gut of other mammals),
on which our immune systems rely, produce and utilize EPSP
synthase. Thus, the lawsuit alleges that Monsanto’s marketing
disregards the millions of bacteria, fungi and other
microorganisms in or on human mucous membranes, skin and the gut
that rely upon the shikimate pathway that glyphosate interrupts.
Plaintiffs in the Wisconsin Roundup class action seek compensation
for themselves and class members equal to the amount of money they
paid for Roundup products which they would not have purchased had
they been properly informed that the enzyme glyphosate targets
actually does exist in humans and animals, contrary to Roundup’s
marketing.