Foods such as French fries and potato chips have been linked to genome mutations that could lead to cancer, according to the results of
That鈥檚 because just like tobacco smoke, they all contain the chemical acrylamide, which becomes the substance glycidamide when metabolized. Both have been found to be carcinogenic, or cancer-causing, in animals.
In the study, which was led by the International Agency for Research on Cancer鈥檚 (IARC) , researchers describe acrylamide as a 鈥減robable human carcinogen.鈥�
鈥淭he potential role of acrylamide in cancer has been under scrutiny for some time, although actual exposure to acrylamide has been challenging to measure in epidemiological studies,鈥� Dr. Marc Gunter, who heads the IARC鈥檚 Section of Nutrition and Metabolism, explained in a press release.
鈥淭his new study provides intriguing evidence that acrylamide can cause specific mutations in humans that may lead to cancer development.鈥�
WHAT IS ACRYLAMIDE?
, acrylamide is not intentionally added to food, but 鈥渋s a chemical that naturally forms in certain foods, particularly plant-based foods that are rich in carbohydrates and low in protein, during processing or cooking at high temperatures鈥� for extended periods.
Health Canada research has shown that the highest levels of acrylamide is found in foods such as French fries and potato chips. The chemical is also present in lower levels in items such as 鈥渃ookies, breakfast cereals, bread, as well as other foods that are also processed at high temperatures such as coffee, roasted almonds, and grain-based coffee substitutes.鈥� It is also present in tobacco smoke.
ACRYLAMIDE AND CANCER
In their study, IARC researchers found glycidamide-linked 鈥渕utational signatures鈥� in 30 per cent of the roughly 1,600 different types of tumours they analyzed. That wide range of tumours included cancers of the liver, kidney, bile duct, colon and uterus from dietary and occupational acrylamide exposure as well as smoking-related cancers involving the lungs, head, neck and liver.
The study, senior author and IARC scientist Dr. Jiri Zavadil said in a press release, 鈥減rovides important mechanistic evidence that a commonplace dietary and lifestyle agent can produce highly characteristic DNA damage, thereby potentially contributing to the development of cancer.鈥�
The study concludes by urging further investigations into the potential links between acrylamide and cancer.
鈥淪uch future investigations may ultimately provide a robust rationale for reducing the exposure to acrylamide in the general population,鈥� Zavadil said.
