Worries that Canadians might be inadvertently ingesting too much cancer-causing
acrylamide from French fries, potato chips and other processed foods has
prompted Health Canada to recommend adding the chemical to the country's toxic
substances list.
Acrylamide is an industrial chemical that isn't naturally found in foods, but is
produced accidentally when sugars and other items in potatoes and grains are
exposed to high cooking temperatures.
It has also been detected in breakfast cereals, pastries, cookies, breads,
rolls, toast, cocoa products and coffee, although at levels far below those in
fried potato products.
The decision to recommend placing acrylamide on the toxic list is being
announced in today's Canada Gazette, and is part of an ongoing review by the
federal government of nearly two hundred potentially harmful substances in
widespread commercial use that have never been subject to extensive safety
assessments.
The gazette notice on the chemical, which was posted on the Internet yesterday
afternoon, said the toxic listing was based on the "carcinogenic potential" of
acrylamide and the lack of an adequate safety margin at current exposures for
causing reproductive and developmental harm during fetal and early life
development.
The government didn't announce specific steps to control exposures to acrylamide
in fries and chips, but said that it planned to use the Food and Drugs Act "to
reduce the inadvertent production of acrylamide in certain processed foods
intended for human consumption."
Acrylamide is also used to make polymers found in grout, cement, waste water
treatment, pesticides, cosmetics, and diapers, among other products. The data
posted by the government didn't give any indication that these non-food uses
would be regulated.
The toxic announcement was greeted positively by environmentalists, who have
been arguing that potentially dangerous chemicals in consumer goods need to be
limited.
"We think it's particularly important to list the chemicals that are in common,
everyday items," said Aaron Freeman, a spokesman for Environmental Defence, a
Toronto-based advocacy group. He said the government should move quickly to
introduce control measures.
