Acrylamides From Fried, Grilled Foods Linked to Ovarian Cancer

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: ovarian cancer, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) Women who eat approximately one portion of chips a day have twice the chance of developing ovarian or endometrial cancer as women who eat less acrylamide-containing food, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Maastricht, Netherlands, and published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology.

Endometrial cancer is cancer of the uterine lining in the womb. While prior studies have demonstrated that acrylamide acts as a carcinogen in a laboratory setting, the Dutch study is the first to demonstrate a connection between dietary acrylamide intake and cancer.

Acrylamides were first revealed as a public health concern in 2002, when researchers discovered that the chemical, long known to demonstrate carcinogenic effects in the lab, was found to form in large quantities when starchy foods are fried, baked, grilled or roasted.

Researchers examined cancer rates among 62,000 women 11 years after an initial dietary questionnaire, and found that women who consumed 40 micrograms or more of acrylamide each day had twice the endometrial and ovarian cancer risk of women who ate substantially less acrylamide. This is the approximate amount of the chemical contained in a single portion of potato chips.

According to a spokesperson from the European Union, acrylamide content is much higher in foods that have been discolored or burned by cooking.

"General advice, resulting from this project, is to avoid overcooking when baking, frying or toasting carbohydrate-rich foods," the spokesperson said. "French fries and roast potatoes should be cooked to a golden yellow rather than golden brown color."

Approximately 35,000 women are diagnosed with endometrial cancer in the United States each year, while up to 1 in 40 women will develop ovarian cancer in her lifetime. For endometrial cancer, which is often detected early, the prognosis tends to be good. Ovarian cancer, in contrast, is the fifth most lethal cancer in women.