Wednesday, April 24, 2002


of course, one lone study of just 100 samples doesn't prove anything. . .

but many people are shocked at the discovery by swedish scientists that cooking high-carbohydrate foods at high temperatures -- foods such as bread(!), pizza(!) -- apparently create large amounts of a known cancer-causing chemical. the swedes were so concerned about their findings, they released them immediately instead of waiting to publish them in a scientific journal. reuters said the release of this early study is sparking a worldwide food scare.

what is this chemical, acrylamide? this white, crystalline chunky powder (think sea salt) is a known chemical hazard; the government has set a low safety threshold for it in air, for example. breathing it may be fatal and very small amounts cause genetic mutations and birth defects.

also, it appears to kill fetal mice and paralyse the mothers -- dangerous stuff, no doubt!

however, before we burn our bread recipes and toss out our pizza flour, let's remember the hullabaloo over saccharine, which was banned in the 70s from soft drinks when tests appeared to prove that it caused cancer. years later those tests were shown to be poorly conducted and reputable figures say small amounts of saccharine are safe. . . .

but it is a funny reminder of woody allen's quip that in the future all foods thought now to be good for you would be proven deadly. . .pass that heart-healthy dark chocolate, would you?

posted by fortune | 5:48 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments