Imagine losing your taste and smell for over two years.
Food becomes bland, meals lose their joy, and daily life feels oddly disconnected. That was the reality for one New Zealander who shared her story with us.
She tried to find answers, eventually visiting her chiropractor for an unrelated sore back. Through testing, he suggested she was allergic to potatoes. When she eliminated them from her diet, something incredible happened: within days her taste and smell returned.
But as she would later discover, it wasn’t really the potatoes.
The Turning Point — Organic vs Sprayed
Fast forward a few years. She decided to have her children tested for the same “potato allergy” through a bioresonance practitioner in Tauranga.
At first, the tests showed her children were fine. Then she realized why: the practitioner was using an organic potato. Curious, she asked to be tested with it herself.
The result? She was fine too.
A little more probing revealed the missing link. The practitioner told her: “It’s not the potato — it’s the spray.”
In New Zealand, potatoes are often desiccated before harvest with glyphosate-based weedkillers such as Roundup, or with other chemical sprays. In some cases, glyphosate is used alongside additional chemicals, creating a toxic cocktail that doesn’t stay on the skin — it’s absorbed into the crop itself.
That was the exposure her body had been reacting to all along.
Living Without Roundup
Armed with this knowledge, she made a major lifestyle change: no more glyphosate-based weedkillers on her own property.
“I have a lifestyle block so that’s been a challenge,” she said, “but I stopped using it completely.”
Like many others, she also tries to eat organic whenever possible — though she acknowledges cost and availability make that difficult. Growing her own food helps, but it isn’t always possible year-round.
Still, she feels better knowing she’s doing what she can to reduce exposure for herself and her family.
The Hidden Exposure in Everyday Food
Her experience raises an important question: how much glyphosate and other chemical residues are already in our food supply?
From potatoes to bread, honey to cereals, glyphosate has been detected again and again in New Zealand food. And that’s before we even consider exposure from councils spraying roadsides, farms spraying paddocks, and gardeners using Roundup in their backyards.
Most people don’t connect chronic symptoms — like loss of taste and smell — with something as ordinary as the potatoes on their dinner plate. But stories like this show how chemical sprays, including glyphosate, can travel from the paddock to the plate in ways we don’t often think about.
The Body Doesn’t Forget
This story doesn’t suggest Roundup or other sprays are behind every health issue. But it does show how chemical residues in our food can have real, personal consequences.
The body doesn’t forget — and it shouldn’t be left to individuals to piece together what regulators and industry overlook.
If you’ve had your own health experience where a clear connection was made to glyphosate-based weedkillers, we’d like to hear from you. Stories like this help shine a light on the hidden ways these chemicals enter our lives.
Resources & References
It’s easy to forget that potatoes and other staple foods are routinely treated with chemical sprays before harvest. Here are a few resources to help you explore more:
MPI — Managing Tutin Contamination in Honey
While focused on tutin, this MPI page shows how New Zealand monitors some natural toxins closely — but allows chemical sprays like glyphosate to slip under the radar.
No More Glyphosate NZ — Glyphosate in Bread Testing
Independent testing shows glyphosate residues in everyday bread — proof that desiccation sprays make their way to the table.
No More Glyphosate NZ — Why Raising MRLs Threatens Public Health
A deeper look at how regulators increase allowable residue levels rather than reducing chemical use, leaving consumers exposed.
No More Glyphosate NZ — The Body Remembers: Glyphosate Health Signals
Another personal story highlighting how glyphosate exposure can show up in the body in unexpected ways.
Behind every “safe” food label there’s often a hidden story of sprays, residues, and regulations. These resources show how glyphosate and other chemicals quietly move from paddock to plate.
Image Source & Attribution
We’re grateful to the talented photographers and designers whose work enhances our content. The feature image on this page is by SashaKhalabuzar.
