STUDY LINKS DARK TOAST TO CANCER
A British agency has taken l ong- s t anding warnings about the health risks of overdone toast and potatoes to a new level, launching a publicawareness campaign on how to curb consumption of a possible carcinogen in the foods.
The Go for the gold project — using a U.K. Olympic medallist as spokeswoman — targets acrylamide, a chemical produced by cooking starchy items, and linked in some studies to cancer.
Health Canada has offered similar advice — and even approved a food additive to reduce levels of the substance — since at least 2009, though the science around acrylamide as a carcinogen is less than definitive.
The chemical is produced when certain f oods are cooked at high temperatures and for prolonged periods.
Britain’s Food Standards Agency is urging people to aim for a “golden yellow colour or lighter” when frying, baking, toasting or roasting starchy products like potatoes, root vegetables and bread.
It also recommends following instructions for heating packaged food, and to not keep raw potatoes in the refrigerator, which can also increase levels of acrylamide. As well, people should eat a healthy, balanced died including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, said the agency.
Health Canada i ssued virtually identical advice in February 2009, including the suggestion that bread be toasted to “the lightest colour acceptable.”
Nevertheless, most Britons remain unaware of the existence of the chemical, or its possible dangers, Steve Wearne, director of policy for the U.K. agency, said in a statement Monday.
“Although there is more to know about the true extent of the acrylamide risk, there is an important job for government, industry and others to do to help reduce acrylamide intake,”
Concern about the substance dates from 2002, when Swedish scientists found it could be produced in carbohydrate- rich foods cooked at high temperature. Rodent studies have found a link between higher acrylamide levels and some cancers.
But there is no clear evidence yet that it poses a health risk for humans.
A 2015 “meta- analysis” of 32 large epidemiological studies concluded there is no evidence that acrylamide plays a role in most common cancers. The Italian review did say there appeared to be a modest association with kidney cancer, and with endometrial and ovarian cancer in people who have never smoked.
David Spiegelhalter, an expert on the public understanding of risk at Cambridge University, told the BBC he wasn’t sure the advice was appropriate.
“Even adults with the highest consumption of acrylamide would need to consume 160 times as much to reach a level that might cause increased tumours in mice,” he said.
“The FSA provide no estimate of the current harm caused by acrylamide, nor the benefit from any reduction due to people following their advice.”