EU Study uncovers 50+ cancer causing compounds in cooked
food
http://www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_stephen__071203_more_cancer_causing_.htm
by Stephen Fox, with special thanks to Ahmed El Amin of Food
Quality News
(In California Attorney General William Lockyer's administration,
there was a concerted effort to force the fast food companies to
place a label on every bag of french fries alerting the consumer to
the fact that acrylamide was present and that this chemical was
known to cause cancer. If these suits are intact in AG Jerry
Brown's administration, this effort is a tremendous corroboration
for at least the NM Attorney General and Chemist Gary King, and
maybe a few others, if there are any State Attorneys General in the
US genuinely interested in Consumer Protection, to stand up to
corporations who use this corporate serving line of logic to
maintain that no state can question the FDA or its pronouncements
and approval of a continuing list of extremely harmful products
like aspartame and other incontrovertibly proven carcinogens that
companies have pushed through this very compliant Bush US Food and
Drug Administration.)
Acrylamide and 50 other heat-induced compounds in foods cause
cancer, scientists have concluded in a recent report of a major
three-year EU study into the chemical. The study adds evidence that
acrylamide, formed in foods during heating or frying processes,
poses a health problem, putting pressure on processors to reduce
the chemical in their products. Reduction may involve
reformulation, revising processing and cooking times, or the use of
varieties of ingredients that do not result in as much acrylamide
formation as their counterparts. The EU three-year project, known
as Heat-generated Food Toxicants (Heatox), was launched to examine
the formation of acrylamide in cooked foods and provide advice to
industry. The team found toxicological evidence suggesting that
acrylamide causes cancer.
"Their findings also suggest that there are ways to decrease
exposure to acrylamide, but not to eliminate it," the report
stated. "Laboratory experiments succeeded in reducing acrylamide
levels in bread and potatoes by adjusting the oil to potato ratio
in semi-industrial fryers or minimizing long yeast fermentation."
They calculated that successful application of all presently known
methods would reduce the acrylamide intake by 40 per cent, and also
found that acrylamide is not the only genotoxic compound that forms
when food is heated. The scientific team has created a database of
about 800 heat-induced compounds, of which they say 52 are
potential carcinogens based on their chemical structure. "Other
compounds formed during cooking of food may also constitute an
increased cancer risk for consumers," they stated.
Acrylamide forms during processing as a result of a reaction
between specific amino acids, including asparagine, and sugars
found in foods reaching high temperatures during cooking processes,
known as the Maillard reaction. This occurs at temperatures above
212 F.
Acrylamide made huge international headlines in 2002 when
scientists at the Swedish Food Administration first reported
unexpectedly high levels of the potential carcinogen in
carbohydrate-rich foods cooked at high temperatures. Until then
acrylamide was known only as a highly reactive industrial chemical,
present also at low levels for example in tobacco smoke. More than
200 research projects have been initiated around the world, and
their findings co-ordinated by national governments, the EU and the
United Nations. The EU three-year project began in 2003, bringing
together 24 research teams from 14 countries. Most project partners
are universities or research institutes, but national authorities
and a European consumer organization are also involved. Heatox
scientists also found that presence of acrylamide in home-cooked
food is minimal in comparison with industrially or
restaurant-prepared foods. Advising citizens must be a national
responsibility as cooking and eating habits vary considerably
between countries. "General guidelines would advise avoiding
overcooking when baking, frying or toasting carbohydrate-rich
foods," they stated. "Further acrylamide intake can also be
achieved by following a diet without excessive fat or calorie
intake."
About 40 individual research papers have been published in
international scientific journals by Heatox's scientists as a
result of the project, producing a six-page acrylamide reduction
guide for food processors, one that complements those already
produced by EU industry for various food sectors. The Hetox guide
focuses on potato, cereal products, and coffee. Last year the
European Commission called on member states to check annually
whether acrylamide levels are falling, putting additional pressure
on processors to reduce the chemical in their products. Their
assessment concluded that the margins of exposure for average and
high consumption consumers were low for a compound that is
genotoxic and carcinogenic and that this factor may indicate a
human health concern. Scientists recently conducted a study of
62,000 women in the Netherlands concluding that increased dietary
intakes of acrylamide could raise the risk of endometrial and
ovarian cancer by 29 and 78 per cent, respectively!
A wide range of cooked foods - prepared industrially, in catering,
or at home - contain acrylamide, including bread, fried potatoes
and coffee as well as specialty products like potato crisps,
biscuits, crisp bread, and a range of other heat-processed
products.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_stephen__071203_more_cancer_causing_.htm
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Other related news articles :
EU reveals acrylamide recommendations
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=81758-acrylamide-ciaa-study
Cooking up a new cancer menace
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10480158
Dark toast latest food fright
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/2007/12/04/4706495-sun.html
Fries, cookies may increase women's cancer risk
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=c96fc1a1-ec43-4035-aa15-91d1d2a9306c&k=81535
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Google the work of nutritionist Aajonus Vonderplanitz :
http://www.google.com.sg/search?hl=en&q=Aajonus+Vonderplanitz&meta=
Books by Aajonus Vonderplanitz :
http://infinity.usanethosting.com/Heart.Of.God/main.htm#WWTL