The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its toxicological review of methanol in early 2010, and comments recently filed by food industry interests have criticized the agency for using “surrogate” chemicals, such as formaldehyde and aspartame, an artificial sweetener, to support listing methanol as a likely human carcinogen. They also challenge the agency’s reliance on controversial studies suggesting a link between aspartame and increased incidence of lymphoma and leukemia. EPA apparently used data involving the surrogate chemicals because they are related to methanol as metabolites. According to the Calorie Control Council, which represents companies that make low-calorie and reduced-fat foods, EPA’s review “reads like an aspartame report and not a methanol report.” Because aspartame’s safety has been studied for many years and the chemical additive has been approved for general use in more than 100 countries, the council argues that it should not be included in the methanol report. The Juice Products…
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The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has reportedly completed its review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposal to take saccharin off its list of hazardous substances and wastes. The action will apparently allow EPA to grant a six-year-old industry petition claiming that scientific data suggest the artificial sweetener is “not as harmful as once thought.” EPA, which is expected to seek public comment on its proposed de-listing in April 2010, has apparently found that the “current weight of scientific evidence supports the petitioner’s request.” The substance was placed on EPA’s list when it was created in 1980 because the Food and Drug Administration had previously determined that saccharin was a potential human carcinogen. The National Toxicology Program removed it from its own list of carcinogens in 2000. See InsideEPA.com, January 5 and March 10, 2010.
A recent study has allegedly linked soft drink consumption to an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Mark Pereira, et al., “Soft Drink and Juice Consumption and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer: The Singapore Chinese Health Study,” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, February 2010. Using data from 60,524 participants enrolled in the Singapore Chinese Health Study, researchers determined that individuals who consumed more than two carbonated, sugar-sweetened beverages per week “experienced a statistically significant increased risk of pancreatic cancer… compared with individuals who did not consume soft drinks after adjustment for potential confounders.” In addition, the study did not find a similar association for juice consumption. “The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth,” one author was quoted as saying. Other scientists, however, have noted some limitations of the study, which was the…
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has extended the comment period for its food warning regulations until March 1, 2010. The latest proposal is to establish a pilot program that would impose Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) warning obligations on food manufacturers and retailers to inform consumers about the presence of food ingredients known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive harm. Additional information about the pilot program appears in issue 331 of this Update. The program, which would expire in four to five years, would allow the agency to test its assumptions about levels of participation and coverage. See News from OEHHA, January 21, 2010.
The American Cancer Society has released a position paper, “American Cancer Society Perspectives on Environmental Factors and Cancer,” discussing human exposures to carcinogens, including those in food. The paper calls for additional resources to (i) “accelerate testing of new and existing chemicals for potential carcinogenicity,” (ii) “monitor the bioaccumulation of chemicals in humans and in the food chain,” and (iii) “monitor and evaluate trends in cancers for which incidence is increasing.” Among the positions the society takes on cancer prevention is that “decisions regarding prevention must inevitably be made in the face of accruing but still incomplete evidence.” While the paper acknowledges that environmental exposures to carcinogens are generally minimal, its authors contend, “there is reason to be concerned about low-level exposures to carcinogenic pollutants because of the multiplicity of substances, the involuntary nature of many exposures, and the potential that even low-level exposures contribute to the cancer burden when…
Connecticut residents have filed a putative class action in state court against several fast food companies alleging that they violated consumer protection laws by selling grilled chicken products containing a carcinogenic chemical without providing warnings. Delio v. McDonald’s Corp., No. __ (Conn. Super. Ct., Hartford Cty., filed October 21, 2009). They seek to represent a class of all individuals who purchased and ingested these products in Connecticut and allege that the defendants knew or should have known that PhIP is formed when chicken is grilled and that it “has no safe level for ingestion.” The named plaintiffs, who are represented by The Cancer Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization, seek warning signs, actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees. The complaint refers to scientific research on PhIP and notes that California placed it on its list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer in 1994 and that the…
An Italian study has reportedly found that the consumption of artificial sweeteners, including saccharin and aspartame, does not increase the risk of developing gastric, pancreatic or endometrial cancers. Cristina Bosetti, et al., “Artificial Sweeteners and the Risk of Gastric, Pancreatic, and Endometrial Cancers in Italy,” Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention (August 1, 2009). Classifying participants as either users or non-users of artificial sweeteners, researchers compared data from 230 people with stomach cancer and 547 healthy controls; 326 people with pancreatic cancer and 652 healthy controls; and 454 people with endometrial cancer and 908 healthy controls. The results confirmed “the absence of an adverse effect of low-calorie sweetener (including aspartame) consumption on the risk of common neoplasms in the Italian population.” Although limited to Italy, this conclusion apparently supports the findings of a National Cancer Institute study involving 285,079 men and 188,905 women that found no statistical link between aspartame and leukemia,…
The Cancer Project, a vegan advocacy group affiliated with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), has reportedly filed a putative consumer fraud class action on behalf of three New Jersey residents that seeks to require cancer-risk labels on hot dogs and other processed meats. Filed July 22, 2009, in New Jersey Superior Court, the complaint names as defendants the parent companies of several hot dog manufacturers, including Kraft Foods Inc., Sara Lee Corp. and Nathan’s Famous Inc. The suit seeks damages for the named plaintiffs and declaratory relief under the Consumer Fraud Act for the proposed class. The Cancer Project has contended that processed meats contain human carcinogens like nitrites and N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), basing its claim on a recent meta-analysis by the American Institute for Cancer Research that purportedly associates the daily consumption of processed meat with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. “Just as tobacco causes lung cancer,…
During a recent week-long meeting in Rome, Italy, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) adopted more than 30 standards and guidelines designed to protect consumers’ health, such as cutting the levels of potential cancer-causing chemicals and bacteria in foods. Among the rules adopted by the joint body of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization were measures to reduce acrylamide, a chemical by-product of high-temperature cooking processes that has allegedly been linked to cancer. “Applying Codex standards and guidelines are an important part of ensuring that consumers in every part of the world can be protected from unsafe food,” an FAO spokesperson was quoted as saying. CAC also adopted criteria for Salmonella and other bacteria in powdered formula for children ages 6 months and older and microbiological testing parameters aimed at helping producers control and prevent contamination of ready-to-eat foods with Listeria. See Reuters; FoodNavigator-USA.com, July…
A recent Harvard School of Public Health study has claimed that eating smoked or cured meats could increase the risk of leukemia in children and young adults. Chen-yu Liu, et al., “Cured meat, vegetables and bean-curd foods in relation to childhood acute leukemia risk: A population cast-control study,” BMC Cancer (2009). Researchers analyzed the dietary habits of 515 participants between age 2 and 20 in Taiwan, finding that those who consumed smoked or cured meats more than once a week were more likely to develop acute leukemia. In addition, the study allegedly confirmed that children who regularly ate vegetables and tofu showed a reduced risk for leukemia. The authors speculated that nitrites added during the curing and smoking process could play a role in cancer, but stressed a need for further causation studies to discover a mechanism. “These are some very active compounds in your body,” stated Harvard Professor of…
