Acrylamide Doesn't Raise Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk

Large study found no danger from chemical produced during high-temp cooking

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

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MONDAY, Oct. 20 (HealthDay News) -- A large Dutch study finds no link between acrylamide and the risk of developing gastrointestinal cancer.

Acrylamide is a chemical commonly found in French fries, cakes, snacks and even coffee. The substance forms naturally when certain carbohydrate-rich foods are cooked at high temperatures.

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"No association was observed between dietary acrylamide intake and risk of cancer of the gastrointestinal tract, consistent with the few other epidemiological studies on this topic," said Janneke Hogervorst, lead author of the study in the November issue of The Journal of Nutrition.

But previous reports have provided conflicting evidence, added Hogervorst, a doctoral candidate at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, who urged "other research groups to investigate these relationships also."

Despite the complicated science, however, the public health message is surprisingly simple.

"People should limit consumption of foods which are important sources of acrylamide for general health reasons," said Dr. Michael Thun, vice president of epidemiology and surveillance research at the American Cancer Society. "They tend to be low in nutrition, high in fat and high in calories."

The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified acrylamide as a "probable" human carcinogen in 1994, based largely on animal studies in which animals were exposed to levels of the chemical up to 100,000 times higher than normally consumed in food.

Human studies have shown a possible association between acrylamide and cancers of the uterus, ovaries and kidneys, though no association for breast, bladder and prostate cancer, Hogervorst said.

Even though the data on human health has remained unclear, food safety authorities in Europe have started to curb acrylamide in foods.

The authors of this paper prospectively looked at more than 120,000 men and women aged 55 to 69 participating in the Netherlands Cohort Study on diet and cancer.

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