Browned toast may up cancer risk: experts

London: Overly browned toast and potato chips may contain a chemical that increases the risk of cancer, experts in the UK warned today.

Acrylamide, produced when starchy foods are roasted, fried or grilled for too long at high temperatures, has been shown to cause cancer in animals. The UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) has now launched a "Go for Gold" public campaign to trigger a change in cooking and eating habits so that toast, chips and other root vegetables are heated only until golden yellow.

"You can't point to individual people and say that person has cancer because of the amount of acrylamide in their diet but because the mechanisms by which it does have this effect in animals are similar to the mechanisms you would expect to occur in humans it's not something we can ignore," said Steve Wearne, FSA director of policy.

"We want our campaign to highlight the issue so that consumers know how to make the small changes that may reduce their acrylamide consumption whilst still eating plenty of starchy carbohydrates and vegetables as recommended in
government healthy eating advice," Wearne said. Acrylamide is present in many different types of food and is a natural by-product of the cooking process.

Its carcinogenic nature was first claimed by a Swedish study in 2002. The highest levels of the substance are found in foods with high starch content which have been cooked above 120 degrees Celsius, such as crisps, bread, breakfast cereals, biscuits, crackers, cakes and coffee. During the browning process, the sugar, amino acids and water present in the bread combine to create colour and
acrylamide.

For instance, smoking exposes people to three to four times more acrylamide than non-smokers because the chemical is present in tobacco smoke. Studies in mice have shown that high levels of acrylamide can cause neurological damage and cancer. However, studies in humans on the effects of the chemical have so far proved inconclusive.

"To be on the safe side, people can reduce their exposure by following a normal healthy, balanced diet which includes eating fewer high calorie foods like crisps, chips and biscuits, which are the major sources of acrylamide," according to Cancer Research UK. The FSA is also working with the food industry to reduce acrylamide in processed foods.