Bread and crisps in cancer risk scare

[Guest guest]

Bread and crisps in cancer risk scare

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1949413.stm

Hidden dangers in fried, carbohydrate-rich foods

 

Staple foods including bread, chips and crisps, may contain high

levels of a substance believed to cause cancer, a study suggests.

Tests showed they all contain high quantities of acrylamide, a

chemical which is classified as a probable human carcinogen.

 

Researchers in Sweden found acrylamide was formed when carbohydrate-

rich foods such as potatoes, rice or cereals are heated.

 

Such foods could pose a potential health risk to millions of people

around the world.

 

 

 

I have been in this field for 30 years and I have never seen

anything like this before

 

Leif Busk, food safety adviser

The research was deemed so important that scientists took the

unusual step of going public with their findings before the details

had been officially published in an academic journal.

 

The study was carried out by Stockholm University in collaboration

with experts at Sweden's National Food Administration, a government

food safety agency.

 

Leif Busk, head of the Food Administration's research department,

said: " I have been in this field for 30 years and I have never seen

anything like this before. "

 

The study found that an ordinary bag of crisps may contain up to 500

times more of the substance than the top level allowed in drinking

water by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

 

Fried food risk

 

French fries sold at Swedish franchises of US fast-food chains

contained about 100 times the one microgram per litre maximum

permitted by the WHO in drinking water, the study showed.

 

One milligram, or 0.001 gram, contains 1,000 micrograms.

 

The US Environmental Protection Agency classifies acrylamide, a

colourless, crystalline solid, as a medium hazard probable human

carcinogen.

 

Acrylamide induces gene mutations and has been found in animal tests

to cause benign and malignant stomach tumours.

 

It is also known to cause damage to the central and peripheral

nervous system.

 

Mr Busk said: " The discovery that acrylamide is formed during the

preparation of food, and at high levels, is new knowledge.

 

" It may now be possible to explain some of the cases of cancer

caused by food. "

 

The Food Administration said fried, oven-baked and deep-fried potato

and cereal products may contain high levels of acrylamide.

 

Experts at Cancer Research UK believe the study is highly

significant.

 

The charity's carcinogens expert Professor David Phillips said: " We

know already that the 'Western diet' leads to a different spectrum

of cancers from those that are common in other parts of the world.

 

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

culprit, are responsible for this.

 

" 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 minimised. "

 

One crisp danger

 

Cancer Research UK advises consumers to avoid a diet excessively

high in fat and fried food.

 

It suggests people eat more fresh fruit and vegetables and avoid

overcooked or burnt food.

 

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

acrylamide formation in food products and to find ways of minimising

its formation, " said Professor Phillips.

 

Margareta Tornqvist, an associate professor at Stockholm

University's department of environmental chemistry said the

consumption of a single potato crisp could take acrylamide intake up

to the WHO maximum for drinking water.

 

 

 

We have received the information and we are evaluating what it will

mean

 

Stefan Eriksson, Burger King subsidiary

However, she said the product analysis, based on more than 100

random samples, was not extensive enough for the Administration to

recommend the withdrawal of any products from the supermarket

shelves.

 

Stefan Eriksson, marketing manager for Burger King's subsidiary in

Sweden, said: " We have received the information and we are

evaluating what it will mean. "

 

The Food Standards Agency said consumers do not need to change their

diet in the light of this report.

 

The WHO said the study results were worrying, but that more research

was needed.

 

Jorgen Schlundt, head of the WHO's food safety programme, said: " I

am not saying that the world should simply stop eating these foods. "

 

Mr Schlundt said the WHO planned to gather experts at its Geneva

headquarters to examine the question, but it might be a couple of

months before such a meeting could be held.

 

" We are not saying that everybody is going to be dying from this in

30 years, but we are saying that there is a potential problem and

that we need to know more, " he said.