May 2002 - Potato chips, french fries, biscuits and bread may contain a substance that causes cancer according to a recent report released by Swedish scientists recently.
Researchers in Sweden recently released a report which found high concentration of acrylamide when carbohydrate-rich foods such as potatoes, rice or cereals are heated. Acrylamide is well known as a probable cancer-causing agent and according to the recent report, was found in alarming quantities in carbohydrate-rich foods such as rice, potatoes and cereals which have been fried or baked. However acrylamide is not present when these foods are boiled
Acrylamide is known to cause damage to the human nervous system and has been found to induce gene mutations and cause stomach tumors in animals, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
According to a Reuters news report, Swedish food administration officials told a news conference they had found that an ordinary bag of potato chips may contain up to 500 times more acrylamide than the maximum concentration the World Health Organization (WHO) allows in drinking water.
So far some scientists have cautioned that the Swedish report will need further verification before they recommend any major change in our eating habits or the withdrawal of any products from the supermarket shelves. Some experts have even said that it was unusual for the report to be released in a press conference before publication in a scientific journal.
This study not only have implications for our eating habits, but may affect the food industry as a whole especially the fast food business, producers of patato crisps and others. The food industry may now have a responsibility to monitor acrylamide formation in their products and to find ways of minimising its formation.
