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Retail outlets across Europe are taking glyphosate – the main ingredient of Monsanto’s Roundup – off their shelves, despite government officials declaring it safe to use

Monsanto is far from happy. The main ingredient of its highly profitable weedkiller, Roundup, often used in conjunction with GM crops, has been declared a “probable carcinogenic”.

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In Germany, for example, retailers have started removing glyphosate herbicides from their shelves, with one state protection minister calling for a ban on the use of the chemical by the general public. “This pesticide should not be found in gardens, parks or on children’s playgrounds. I also do not think use in private gardens is appropriate,” explained Lower Saxony’s consumer protection minister Christian Meyer.

However, German government safety officials recently declared it safe. A report from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessments (BfR), seen by the Guardian, found “very limited evidence of carcinogenicity” in mice exposed to glyphosate and recommended its re-approval.

European officials are far from unanimous, however, with the French environment minister Ségolène Royal announcing plans in June for new restrictions on the sale of glyphosate at garden centres in the country.