Monday – 6 Shaaban 1444 AH – February 27, 2023 AD
London: «Asharq Al-Awsat»
The idea of the possibility of eating burnt foods has always raised a lot of controversy among scientists and health experts, as some of them pointed to the danger of these foods to human health, while others confirmed that there is no scientific evidence to prove this matter.
According to the British BBC, a study conducted in 2002 by scientists at Stockholm University stated that there is a substance called acrylamide that forms on some foods when exposed to a temperature of more than 120 degrees Celsius, including potato chips, bread, biscuits, coffee and breakfast cereals. . Scientists said that there are certain doses of acrylamide that make it carcinogenic in animals, but they confirmed that these doses are much higher than those found in human food. The European Food Safety Authority says acrylamide can increase the risk of cancer in humans, especially children.
Leo Schotten, an associate professor of epidemiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, said he and several colleagues investigated the link between acrylamide intake and all types of cancer, and found that there was a higher risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer in women with high exposure. to the article. An American study published in 2012 pointed to an increased risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer among women who consumed large amounts of acrylamide.
But despite these results, many experts have indicated that no specific result has been reached that supports this belief, pointing to the possibility of other factors contributing to cancer. For example, people who ingest high levels of acrylamide may also make other lifestyle choices that put them at higher risk of developing malignant disease.
“Nearly 30 years after it was classified as a ‘probable human carcinogen’,” says Fatima Saleh, associate professor of medical laboratory sciences at Beirut Arab University in Lebanon. . However, if we continue with more studies in humans, we may have enough data to confirm this.
In 2010, a joint FAO/WHO expert committee on food additives suggested that more long-term studies are needed to understand the link between acrylamide and cancer. However, the committee supported efforts to reduce levels of acrylamide in food.
But although the results for cancer are uncertain, scientists are certain that acrylamide is a neurotoxin, meaning that it can affect the nervous system. The exact reason for this is still not fully understood, but one theory is that acrylamide attacks structural proteins inside nerve cells or may inhibit anti-inflammatory systems that protect nerve cells from damage.
The toxic effects of acrylamide have been shown to be cumulative, which means that consuming a small amount of acrylamide over a long period of time can increase the risk of it affecting organs in the long term.
“Evidence from animal studies suggests that long-term exposure to dietary acrylamide can increase the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases, such as Dementia, and may be associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in children.
Lagozzi pointed out that there is a link between the increased intake of acrylamide in pregnant women and the decrease in the weight of children and the size of the circumference of their heads at birth, stressing that “acrylamide passes through all tissues, including the placenta, because it has a low molecular weight and is soluble in water.”
Experts say there are also ways to reduce acrylamide at home when cooking, including soaking potatoes in hot water for 10 minutes when making potato chips, as this can reduce the composition of the substance by nearly 90 percent. Experts also point out that scraping burnt bits of toast is also a good idea.