- A study suggested that greater consumption of food preservatives widely used in processed foods and beverages was associated with an increased risk of cancer.
- Most of the preservatives linked to an increased cancer risk were non-antioxidants.
- Considering the widespread use of these additives, the study has important public health implications, the researchers said.
A higher intake of preservatives widely used in processed foods and beverages was associated with a modestly increased risk of cancer, according to results from the French NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort.
Among more than 105,000 participants, higher intake of several preservatives, including potassium sorbate, potassium metabisulfite, sodium nitrite, potassium nitrate, acetic acid, and sodium erythorbate, was associated with an increased risk of overall, breast, and prostate cancers, reported Mathilde Touvier, MSc, MPH, PhD, of Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, and colleagues.
"These findings may have important public health implications given the ubiquitous use of these additives in a wide range of foods and beverages," they wrote in The BMJ.
"If confirmed, these new data call for the re-evaluation of regulations governing the food industry's use of these additives, to improve consumer protection," they noted. "In the meantime, the findings support recommendations for consumers to favor freshly made, minimally processed foods."
The authors found that intake of non-antioxidant preservatives was associated with an increased risk of overall cancer, with a hazard ratio of 1.16 when comparing higher intake versus no or low intake (95% CI 1.07-1.26). Specifically, they found that intake of the following preservatives was associated with increased overall, breast, and prostate cancer risks:
- Total sorbates, specifically potassium sorbate: overall cancer (HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.04-1.24) and breast cancer (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.07-1.49)
- Total sulfites: overall cancer (HR 1.12, 95% CI 1.02-1.24)
- Potassium metabisulfite: overall cancer (HR 1.11, 95% CI 1.03-1.20) and breast cancer (HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.04-1.38)
- Sodium nitrite: prostate cancer (HR 1.32, 95% CI 1.02-1.70)
- Potassium nitrate: overall cancer (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.05-1.23) and breast cancer (HR 1.22, 95% CI 1.05-1.41)
- Total acetates: overall cancer (HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.06-1.25) and breast cancer (HR 1.25, 95% CI 1.07-1.45)
- Acetic acid: overall cancer (HR 1.12, 95% CI 1.01-1.25)
Among antioxidant preservatives, sodium erythorbate was associated with an increased risk of overall cancer (HR 1.12, 95% CI 1.04-1.22) and breast cancer (HR 1.21, 95% CI 1.04-1.41).
In an editorial accompanying the study, Xinyu Wang, MBBS, and Edward Giovannucci, MD, ScD, both of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, pointed out that preservatives offer clear benefits by extending shelf life and lowering food costs, which can be particularly important for populations with lower incomes.
"However, the widespread and often insufficiently monitored use of these additives, with uncertainties of their long-term health effects, call for a more balanced approach," they wrote. "Findings from NutriNet-Santé may prompt regulatory agencies to revisit existing policies, such as setting stricter limits on use, requiring clearer labeling, and mandating disclosure of additive contents."
The study included 105,260 participants in the NutriNet-Santé cohort from 2009 to 2023. Mean age was 42 years, and 78.7% were women. Of these participants, 4,226 received a diagnosis of incident cancer over a mean follow-up of 7.57 years, including 1,208 breast cancers (387 premenopausal and 821 postmenopausal), 508 prostate cancers, 352 colorectal cancers, and 2,158 other cancers.
Preservative intake was assessed through repeated 24-hour dietary records. Health questionnaires and official medical and death records were then used to track cancer cases up until the end of 2023.
On average, participants completed a total of 21 24-hour dietary records. Compared with lower consumers (lowest third), higher consumers of total food preservatives (upper third) tended to be younger, less physically active, less likely to have a family history of cancer, and more likely to consume less alcohol and more ultra-processed foods and drinks.
The authors considered 58 preservatives for inclusion in the study, 17 of which were consumed by at least 10% of the participants and individually evaluated in association with cancer incidence. The most commonly consumed preservatives were citric acid (91.7%), lecithins (87.1%), total sulfites (83.5%), ascorbic acid (83.5%), sodium nitrite (73.8%), potassium sorbate (65.5%), sodium erythorbate (52.7%), sodium ascorbate (50.3%), potassium metabisulfite (44.5%), and potassium nitrate (32.6%).
Touvier and colleagues acknowledged that the study had several limitations, including its observational design, which meant that residual confounding could not be fully ruled out.
Disclosures
The NutriNet-Santé study was supported by the Ministère de la Santé, Santé Publique France, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Institut National de la Recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, and University Sorbonne Paris Nord.
The authors reported support from the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, the French National Cancer Institute, the French Ministry of Health, IdEx Université de Paris, and a Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation research prize.
The editorialists had no disclosures.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.