Flawed Study Cited by Joe Rogan Pushes Claim that Girl Scout Cookies Are Toxic
By Elisa Xu
What happened: Websites and commentators known for spreading health misinformation are citing a December 2024 study — commissioned by two nonprofits that have frequently questioned the safety of pesticides and oppose genetically modified foods — that claims that Girl Scout cookies contain “toxic” levels of the pesticide glyphosate and heavy metals.
A closer look: The study, commissioned and published by the groups Moms Across America and GMOScience, tested 25 samples of Girl Scout cookies from three U.S. states: California, Iowa, and Louisiana. The study, which was not peer-reviewed, reported that 100 percent of the cookie samples tested positive for the herbicide glyphosate and that 88 percent of the samples tested positive for heavy metals, calling the results “extremely concerning.”
The study has been widely cited to raise the alarm about the supposed danger of Girl Scout cookies, which are enormously popular in the U.S. According to NPR (NewsGuard Trust Score: 100/100), approximately 200 million boxes are sold annually.
The Children's Health Defense (Trust Score: 17.5/100), an anti-vaccine nonprofit founded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., published an article about the study on March 13 stating: “The fact that 100% of the cookies tested positive for [pesticide] glyphosate and its toxic by-product … should be enough concern for alarm.”
AnyaVien.com (Trust Score: 62/100), a site run by an alternative medicine advocate, reported the study’s findings in a March 12 article and stated: “While these cookies are marketed as a wholesome way to support young girls in leadership and entrepreneurship, the reality is that they may be exposing consumers to dangerous substances with every bite.”
In an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” (NewsGuard Podcast Trust Score: 7/10), a podcast with over 19.5 million subscribers on YouTube, Rogan introduced the findings of the study by stating: “I was reading some study on Girl Scout cookies. Where they’ve done studies on Girl Scout cookies to break them down and find out what’s in them. Holy s---.”
Girl Scout cookies? Is nothing sacred? The study’s findings did not prove that Girl Scout cookies are toxic. The research covered a small sample of cookies and found levels of glyphosate and metals that are within a range considered safe by U.S. government agencies, experts said.
Jessica Steier, a public health scientist and co-host of “The Unbiased Science Podcast,” told Snopes (Trust Score: 100/100) in February 2025, “The certified lab results show all tested parameters fall well within established food safety guidelines.” She added, “The results demonstrate compliance with food safety standards rather than raising red flags.”
Steier wrote in a February 2025 Substack article that a 66-pound child “would need to consume over 9,000 cookies in a single day” to consume an unsafe level of glyphosate.
The study also misleadingly compared the detected level of cadmium in the cookies to the EPA’s safety limits on heavy metals in water, rather than its limits for food. “Water consumption is vastly different from food consumption,” Norbert Kaminski, a Michigan State University pharmacology and toxicology professor, told PolitiFact (Trust Score: 100/100) in March 2025. “People drink liters of water daily, whereas foods like cookies are eaten in much smaller quantities and at less consistent intervals.”
Girl Scouts of the United States of America said in a Feb. 6, 2025, statement that the organization “remain[s] committed to compliance with all food safety standards” and that its cookies “are safe to consume and are manufactured in accordance with all food safety regulations.”
Asked about the criticism of the study, Dr. Michelle Perro, the CEO of GMOScience, told NewsGuard in a March 21, 2025, email: “We reject the notion that our study ‘misrepresents’ the data. Rather, we present our findings within the framework of precautionary science, emphasizing the unique vulnerability of children to environmental toxicants, and the urgent need for more comprehensive food safety assessments.” Moms Across America did not respond to NewsGuard’s request for comment.