What Everybody Should Know About The Latest Cancer Risk!

This may come as a shock to many of you but there is a huge body of evidence accumulating in the scientific community with regard to the increased risk of cancer from eating many foods that are currently in your cupboards. This information is important, not only to those of you wanting to prevent cancer, but also to cancer survivors who hope to prevent a recurrence. The potential cancer-causing compound is so pervasive within everyday foods that the State of California is considering adjusting their label laws to require all food manufacturers to list the amount of the chemical on the nutrition facts panel of their products. Frankly, I believe the threat is so real that the new label laws should be implemented nationwide, not just in California.

The toxic chemical is known as Acrylamide and has been determined to be both carcinogenic as well as a powerful neurotoxin. Interestingly, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already set strict standards regarding the permissible amount of this chemical in your drinking water. For example, if a glass of your tap water contained more than 0.5 parts per billion (ppb) the EPA would shut down your water treatment facility due to the hazard and cancer risk of ingesting that amount of Acrylamide. Thus, there is a nationwide criterion that has been set for the safe consumption of Acrylamide in water and anything over that amount is considered unsafe for humans. In June of 2002, the FDA published it's finding that the total amount of Acrylamide considered safe for daily consumption is up to 12 micrograms (mcg) per person per day. Currently, Texas A&M is engaged in the largest Acrylamide study ever done and is studying the Acrylamide content of common foods eaten on a daily basis by many Americans.

A small Swedish study stimulated the safety concerns regarding Acrylamide. The study tested common foods like Folgers instant coffee, Cheerios, and even french fries. The results were so shocking that it sent a tidal wave of concern throughout the scientific community that engulfed the World Health Organization, consumer activists, food manufacturing plants, cancer specialists and nutritionists. Let me begin by explaining what Acrylamide is and how it ends up in our foods. As it turns out Acrylamide is not a chemical that is added to a food, but rather it is a toxic chemical that is formed when processed carbohydrates are baked at high temperatures. These foods can appear to be healthy, low in fat and yet still have very high levels of Acrylamide in them. Acrylamide is formed when the glucose found naturally in a carbohydrate reacts at a high temperature with a naturally occurring amino acid called asparagines. Both the glucose and the amino acid are natural components that are found in all carbohydrates and proteins. What is so important to understand is that Acrylamide is formed during the baking of processed foods. It is not a chemical being added by food manufacturers. Currently, researchers are not sure why various foods of the same origin have more Acrylamide than others but are on a mission to find out. For example, researchers tested several different brands of french fries found in the freezer section of your supermarket and discovered that the Acrylamide levels varied considerably. Some had safe levels while other brands did not. For instance, one FDA study showed that the Acrylamide levels in frozen french fries before cooking contained levels as low as 20 ppb as well as all the way up to 218 ppb! And it isn't just french fries that you need to worry about, you should b concerned about any processed carbohydrate that is baked at high temperatures. Think about the number of baked carbohydrate-based foods that you buy every week when you visit the supermarket. Foods like baked potato chips (Pringles), cereals like Cheerios (which had 266 ppb while Rice Krispies cereal had only 47ppb), and even coffee like Folgers instant all had high levels of Acrylamide.

The cancer risk that Acrylamide poses to people should not be your only concern, the neurotoxicity of this chemical should be as well. The concern should be especially heightened with regard to infants and those that already suffer from neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Muscular Dystrophy. To date, no one can possibly know for sure just how many cases of cancer or neurological disorders are caused or worsened by the consumption of high levels of Acrylamide because this concern is too new to comment. Yet it is safe to say that we need immediate attention and research to help determine the safe level of Acrylamide, if there is such a thing, and get food manufacturers to reduce the amount within their foods. In addition, we need the FDA to mandate a change in the label laws that would require the chemical to be listed on all labels so the public can at least monitor how much they consume each day. While the FDA is strongly considering the labeling of Acrylamide, I think you should be aware of the flaws within what they are proposing. Recently, and this may change if the outcry is loud enough, the FDA has considered listing only those foods that contain more than 75 ppb. The problem with this proposal is that there is no regard for foods eaten together and the combined amount of Acrylimide. For instance, if you consume a food with 70 ppb and another food with 65 ppb, although both would not have to list the amount of Acrylamide on their labels, you will have eaten 135 ppb of Acrylamide. That amount is well over the 75 ppb level considered safe. Just think about how many processed, high carbohydrate foods Americans eat on a daily basis. Just walk down any supermarket aisle and virtually everything on the shelves is comprised of some form of baked, processed food. Let's suppose you had a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast with a cup of Folgers instant coffee. Then for lunch you ate a luncheon meat sandwich along with a handful of baked Pringles potato chips. In the mid-afternoon you grabbed a handful of pretzels. And dinner was a frozen dinner containing a dinner roll and oven baked french fries. Folks, those examples make up the typical American diet and just think about how much Acrylamide would have been consumed. However, the scariest thing that I learned from the researchers at Texas A&M is that they have found that deep fried foods contain ten's of thousands of ppb of Acrylamide!

It is estimated that 33% of all cancers are caused by environmental factors such as exposure radon gas, Benzene or any number of chemicals found in the environment. Another 33% of all cancers are estimated to be genetic. In other words, if it is in your genetic make-up, it more than likely will emerge. And finally, 33% of all cancers are considered dietary or lifestyle-induced due to an individual's personal choices regarding smoking, drinking or eating a diet high in fat and Acrylamide. Of these three major risks associated with getting cancer, personal choice is the area where you have the most control. Many of you choose not to smoke, or to drink or to do illicit drugs. But how many of you choose to continue to eat poorly and to consistently consume a diet high in fat and processed foods while not exercising?

Keep in mind that raw foods don't contain Acrylamide. And when you bake complex carbohydrates like potatoes and yams at home the amount of Acrylamide formed is next to nothing. Until more studies are done, my recommendation stands as it has for 30 years. You need to avoid processed foods and eat as many foods as possible the way God made them, not the way man makes them.