A Swedish study released this week found that french fries, potato chips, breads and cereals, may all contain high levels of a substance that probably causes cancer.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/743063.asp?0dm=C11PH

We tend to consume so many carbohydrates of this type that reports such as this one are quite troubling.

Do reports--like this current one--cause you to rethink or change your own eating habits? Do they affect the types of foods you buy and prepare for your family?

hi chelseabelle
i don't think i'll stop eating carbohydrates such as these, but i'll certainly be more aware of how much of it i eat - tho foods like cereals are traditionally a staple part of one's diet, aren't they ?

i think i would be inclined to wait for other test results before i make a radical change to my diet, after all, i have been eating these foods in whatever quantities everyday of my life so far, so if there are poisons in the food, they will already be present in my body by now.

there are no comments as to whether completely taking these foods out of one's diet would also be harmful - i would like to know more about that.

I agree with Allynellie. I don't think I'll change my diet just on the strength of this one report.

I'm afraid I've become rather blasé about health scares. In the course of my lifetime I've heard just about every foodstuff and drink condemned as a source of some unpleasant disease or other.

When I was a kid the "expert" view seeemed to be that eating lots of carbohydrates was bad for you. Then they came into favour and we were urged to eat lots of wholemeal bread and starchy vegetables. In the meantime,however, eggs (which used to be promoted as a healthy food) were demonized. Now maybe the pendulum is going to swing again. Can I be blamed if I decide that, if whatever I eat is wrong, I'll eat what I enjoy?

[ 04-26-2002, 07:56 AM: Message edited by: TabbyTom ]

Well, I know that I do use a Carbohydrate Addict's diet that works really well for my own personal metabolism, and makes me feel like a million bucks, I still eat them during a one meal period per day, and the longer I'm on the plan, the less I crave them, or the "bad" kinds soaked in fat. My metabolism just kicks in and takes charge, without much work.

However, the pendulum is swinging so much these days, that I think worrying unduly about all these things is more harmful than eating them in slight quantities.
One of the most freeing things that I experienced in my own plan was not worrying or feeling guilty about the things I eat, and when things were free in my mind, I just didn't do it anymore.

The Puritan militaristic methods of cutting down on certain foods have one result, they make me want to go stuff my face!

I remember the box of chocolates on the top of the refridgerator the first day of the plan, the second, and how much better I felt each day, and how I had two the first day, then one, and then I didn't even bother.
How I'd stock up on stuff I really wanted to fit into that reward meal, then I'd stop doing it, then I leveled out.

If this becomes the big thing in America, then people will probably crave it, like putting an X or R rating on a film, like selling alcholic beverages in little paper bags, like forbidden fruit things.
Or cigarettes! Now that people have to hide to smoke, the ones who do are all establishing a strong relationship as they all are out in front of restaurants and bars smoking together feeling bad.

Another thing it brings to mind is that in the old days when people didn't live as long, they didn't live long enough to get cancer and die from that, but now, with modern medical devices etc, we're faced with diseases we can detect that we couldn't do before.
Remember when it wasn't that common to die of cancer?

To quote from the article in the link I posted:

"French fries, potato chips, breads, cereal and other popular high-carbohydrate foods may contain high levels of a compound that probably causes cancer, according to an alarming study released Wednesday by Swedish food authorities. The carcinogen, called acrylamide, appears to form when carbohydrates are heated in a certain way, such as by frying potatoes or baking bread, researchers found.

Scientists at Stockholm University first made the surprising discovery while carrying out research on the effects of cooking staple foods such as cereals, rice and potatoes, in which they found acrylamide, which is thought to cause cancer.
Sweden’s National Food Administration followed up on the research and tested more than 100 different samples of carbohydrate-rich foods subjected to high heat through frying, deep-frying or baking.
In laboratory animals, acrylamide causes tumors, so the U.S. government lists it as a “probable” cause of cancer in humans.

In just one bag of potato chips, they found 500 times more acrylamide than what’s considered safe. In french fries from Swedish outlets of the most popular American hamburger chains, they found 100 times the safe limit, and high levels too, in cereals made by U.S. companies."

So the problem isn't with the carbohydrate foods, but with the techniques used to cook those foods.
Presumably baking a potato might be safer than frying it. And a baked snack might be safer than one which is fried.

Certainly the findings of the Swedish study need to be expanded before any clear conclusions can be drawn.

But decreasing the amount of fried food in one's diet is already consistent with accepted health guidelines, and complex carbohydrates are already considered preferable to simple carbohydrates. So if one is already following a healthful diet, the news of the latest study wouldn't prompt any big changes. But for those who aren't, perhaps this study will provide a little incentive to make some changes.

Risk Prompts Parley
WHO to discuss cancer-causing chemical

THE WASHINGTON POST
April 30, 2002

The World Health Organization will gather experts for a conference in June to assess the possible public health risks from acrylamide, the cancer-causing chemical that Swedish scientists reported last week was found at high levels in many fried and baked high-starch foods.

The WHO said the meeting was being called to analyze both the Swedish report and other information to determine the nature of the possible risk to people, to assess levels of acrylamide in food in nations other than Sweden and to develop "appropriate guidance to reduce exposure to acrylamide." The Swedish government last Wednesday announced the surprise discovery of significant levels of acrylamide in foods such as potato chips, french fries, crackers and cereals. Researchers concluded that the chemical was being produced during the cooking process because it was not present in the raw materials or in the foods if they were boiled instead of baked or fried.

Both the Swedish report and the Geneva-based WHO said there was no reason for people to change their diets because of the acrylamide finding. They also said it was unclear whether acrylamide in food is taken up by the human body at the same rate it is taken up from water, which has been more widely studied.

In past years, scientists have identified other potentially hazardous compounds in food but later determined that they were present in such small amounts that they posed no harm. Some scientists have also voiced skepticism about the methodology used in the acrylamide study and said it was unlikely to stand up to rigorous testing.

Nonetheless, the Swedish finding has led to a flurry of activity at the Food and Drug Administration and among food manufacturers in the United States as they try to learn more about the results. The study was announced by Sweden's National Food Administration, which said it did not wait to publish the results in a scientific journal because of their pressing nature.

Officials at the FDA and Grocery Manufacturers of America said that they hoped to get copies of the Swedish data soon so they can analyze the testing process and determine whether the results can be repeated. They said that the Swedish results should be considered preliminary.

Officials at the FDA said that acrylamide is used in the United States to make food packaging materials, and that the agency was aware that it might show up "as a very minuscule contaminant."

Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.

Well, it certainly sounds as if the results of the Swedish study are being considered quite carefully.