A group of scientists began a three-day meeting
behind closed doors on Tuesday to examine the implications of the discovery of high levels of a carcinogenic chemical, acrylamide, in some types
of everyday cooked food, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
The 25 international experts, gathered within two months by the WHO and the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation, will be sifting through Swedish research indicating that the chemical is found in baked, fried or grilled potatoes or flour-based products.
The meeting at WHO headquarters is due to end on the June 27 with a press conference.
WHO says the findings of the study in Sweden in April have since been replicated by researchers in several other countries, and it is refusing to dismiss the discovery as just another food scare.
”This is serious because the levels were so elevated and other studies showed similar results, it’s incontrovertible,” WHO representative Gregory Hartl said.
Acrylamide, which is found in glues and resins, is used in low doses to purify drinking water, and can in high doses cause damage to the nervous system, impotence, paralysis and probably cancer, according to WHO.
Its presence in food had not been suspected before, according to WHO food safety coordinator Jorgen Schlundt.
The levels of acrylamide found in everyday foods far exceeded WHO’s recommended daily intake limit for the substance, which is one microgram in drinking water.
In the document appealing to experts to come forward, the health agency said that ”international initiatives to commence multidisciplinary research are urgently needed, since it is very likely that there are ways of decreasing the formation of
acrylamide during the cooking process”.
”Present knowledge does not allow for a balanced analysis of risks and benefits of staple foods containing acrylamide,” it added. – Sapa-AFP