© 2004 by Oxford University Press
© 2004 Oxford University Press
NEWS |
In Brief
FDA Releases Acrylamide Data and Final Acrylamide Action PlanThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released new data on acrylamide levels in more than 750 food samples. The information is being gathered by the agency to assess the extent to which acrylamide is present in the food supply.
A report in April 2002 from a group of Swedish scientists documented the presence of acrylamide—a probable human carcinogen—in numerous common foods. Acrylamide is a natural byproduct in certain carbohydrate-rich foods that forms when these foods are fried, baked, or roasted at high temperatures. In addition to the new data on acrylamide levels in food samples, the FDA also released its final action plan on acrylamide. The plan includes developing methods for acrylamide analysis, researching mechanisms of acrylamide formation and means to reduce formation, assessing the dietary exposure of U.S. consumers to acrylamide, and assessing the potential risk of acrylamide exposure.
Acrylamide is known to cause cancer and reproductive problems in animals at high doses and is a neurotoxin in humans at high doses. The new data are consistent with previous findings showing that potato-based and other carbohydrate-rich products processed at high temperatures have higher levels of acrylamide, and dairy foods and infant formulas have lower levels of the chemical. The recent sampling also discovered the presence of acrylamide in black olives, prune juice, and Postum, a powdered beverage.
The final version of the FDA’s action plan for acrylamide in food and new sampling data can be found at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/pestadd.html#acrylamide.
See News, Vol. 94, No. 12, p. 876, "Acrylamide and Cancer: Tunnel Leak in Sweden Prompted Studies."
Analysis Finds No Association Between Abortion and Breast Cancer
A combined analysis of 53 epidemiologic studies in 16 countries has found no association between induced or spontaneous abortion and a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.
The Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer in Oxford combined data from 44,000 women with breast cancer who had taken part in studies where any history of abortion had been recorded before any breast cancer was diagnosed.
They found that the relative risk of breast cancer among women who had a pregnancy that ended as a spontaneous abortion was 0.98, and for induced abortion the relative risk was 0.93.
In addition, they found no association between abortion and breast cancer among women in prospective studies. In retrospective studies, the data varied considerably.
"The totality of the worldwide epidemiological evidence indicates that pregnancies ending as either spontaneous or induced abortions do not have adverse effects on women’s subsequent risk of developing breast cancer," the authors wrote.
The study was published in the March 27 issue of The Lancet.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||