More acrylamide than level allowed in drinking water

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" * Health and Healing * "

Wednesday, April 24, 2002 7:55 PM

More acrylamide than level allowed in drinking

water

 

 

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p://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=sciencenews & StoryID=875930 -

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> Swedish Study of Food and Cancer Rings Alarm Bells

> April 24, 2002 04:49 PM ET

>

> By Patricia Reaney

> LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists do not know what impact foods containing

high

> levels of acrylamide have on health but the food industry must minimize

> amounts of the known animal carcinogen in their products, a leading expert

> said on Wednesday.

> Swedish researchers sparked a worldwide food scare when they released a

new

> study showing acrylamide is formed in very high concentrations when

> carbohydrate-rich foods such as rice, potatoes and cereals are fried or

> baked.

> " We do not know for sure what the impact on human health of these levels

of

> acrylamide in food is, but because it is a known animal carcinogen it is

> advisable that its formation during food preparation or production be

> minimized, " said Professor David Phillips, an expert on cancer-causing

> agents at Britain's Cancer Research UK charity.

> " This is an interesting and important report, " he added in a statement.

> Experts from Sweden's National Food Administration, a government food

safety

> agency, said potato crisps may contain up to 500 times, and french fries

> more than 100 times, more acrylamide than level allowed in drinking water

by

> the World Health Organization.

> They said the colorless solid compound, which has been produced since the

> 1950 and is mainly for clarifying drinking water, is formed during the

> cooking process and could explain some of the cancers caused by food.

> Boiling the same food products did not form acrylamide, the Swedish study

> found.

> Phillips said it is already known that the " Western diet " high in fat

leads

> of a different spectrum of cancers from those in other parts of the world.

> " It is likely that many aspects of our diet, rather than a single culprit,

> are responsible for this, " he added.

> NEW RESPONSIBILITY

> Phillips said the advice to consumers is the same -- eat plenty of fresh

> fruit and vegetables and avoid overcooked or burned food to reduce the

risk

> of cancer.

> " For the food industry there is now a responsibility to monitor acrylamide

> formation in food products and to find ways of minimizing its formation, "

he

> added.

> The Swedish scientists felt so strongly about their findings that they

> released their results on Wednesday, ahead of publication in a scientific

> journal.

> Gene Grabowski, a spokesman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America, an

> industry trade group representing food, beverage and consumer products

> companies, said " there is insufficient data that would warrant consumers

> changing any eating habits. "

> " This survey has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal, which is

> some indication that we should show some caution before overreacting, "

> Garbowski said.

> But Ake Bergman, head of the department of environmental chemistry at

> Stockholm University, said the research had been submitted and approved

for

> publication in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, published

by

> American Chemical Society.

> The results of the study, based on more than 100 random food samples, was

> released at a news conference but the scientists said the research was not

> extensive enough for the administration to change current dietary

> recommendations or to call for the withdrawal of any products from

> supermarket shelves.

> Other scientists and industry officials were reluctant to comment on the

> findings because they had not seen details of the research.

> Leif Busk, the head of the Swedish food administration's research

> department, said the findings applied worldwide, not only to Sweden, as

the

> food raw materials used in the analyzes had showed no traces of

acrylamide.

> Swedish authorities had informed the European Commission and EU member

> countries, Busk said.

>

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