Chemicals on your plate

Doughnuts, fried chicken, butter popcorn—if any of these are your favourite, read this to know what toxins you are actually taking in with your food

Enough of trans fats and saturated fats bashing. We need to move beyond and pay attention to the many new toxins that are often on our plate nowadays.

Recently, there was a report that found harmful artificial colouring in rice preparations of some restaurants in the Capital. Random samples taken from these restaurants and tested between January 2013-October 2014 by the Union government’s Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) showed the presence of harmful artificial colouring tartrazine in rice (see “Yellow menace”). The report was presented to the Delhi high court earlier this month.

In March, the high court had announced some fruits and vegetables sold in the Capital as “unfit for human consumption” based on a report by an expert committee that said 5.3% of vegetables and 0.5% of fruits had pesticide traces above the maximum residue limit. The expert committee report listed the pesticides—chlordane, endrin, heptachlor, DDT, parathion—and mentioned that these can cause neurological problems, kidney damage, cancer and other diseases.

Manav Manchanda, senior consultant, respiratory medicine and critical care, Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Faridabad, says there are too many new “baddies” around that we are not aware of. “It is time to get acclimatized with them—and be careful too. After all our health depends on it.”

Yellow menace

Tartrazine is a synthetic lemon yellow azo dye derived from coal tar and often used as a food colouring to make dishes look more appealing. It can be found in a range of foods, from sweets and orange drinks to cereals, chips and marmalades. It gives the food a bright lemon yellow colour and is also used in combination with blue and green dyes to give various shades of green. “Some of the reported health side effects include: anxiety, migraines, asthma attacks, blurred vision, skin rashes, thyroid cancer, clinical depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or hyperactivity, heart palpitations, sleep disturbances, general all-over weakness, hot flushes and OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder),” says Dr Manchanda.

A 2007 study published in The Lancet journal, at the UK’s Southampton University, looked at the effects of six colour additives, including tartrazine, and the researchers estimated that banning these colours could prevent 30% of ADHD cases. They found that these artificial colours affect the behaviour of normal children as well as those diagnosed with ADHD. Tartrazine also interferes with the metabolism of vitamin B6 in the body. A 2011 study on mice and rats, published in the Journal Of Food Science, showed that tartrazine produced a few adverse effects in learning and memory functions.

Beta-carotene and turmeric can be used to achieve a similar colour, but these natural alternatives cost more. “In the absence of other means to identify tartrazine (unreliable labelling), it makes sense to keep a lookout for unnaturally bright colour in foods,” says Dr Manchanda.

Sweet devil

How often do you read the label, and on not spotting sugar, happily pick up the product? What you should also be looking for is high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a common sweetener, which is highly processed and made using genetically modified ingredients. It is sweeter and cheaper than regular sugar, but “it is worse than sugar, as it is not natural and the body takes up to three times as long to digest it. It leads to health problems such as weight gain, dental cavities and poor nutrition”, says Ushakiran Sisodia, head of diet and nutrition department, Nanavati Hospital, Mumbai, adding, “sodas, cereals, ketchups, salad dressings are common suspects which contain HFCS.”

Popcorn lungs

Butter-flavoured microwave popcorn gets its flavour from a harmful chemical flavouring agent known as diacetyl. It is a preservative used commonly to give buttery flavour and smell to microwave popcorn, margarine, candies and baked goods. “The problem with microwaving popcorn is that the heating process vapourizes the diacetyl in the bag, which can cause Alzheimer’s and damage the lungs. It can cause popcorn lungs—bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare life-threatening disease, which is irreversible. Plus, the chemicals in the bag produce perfluorooctanoic acid, which increases the risk of certain tumours,” says Pradip Shah, general physician, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, Mumbai.

Canned trouble

Canned foods—soups, tunas, gravies, tomato-based products—are convenient, especially after a long day at work. But metal cans, lined with bisphenol A (BPA), can pose risk of breast and prostate cancer as well as neurological disorders, infertility, and type 2 diabetes. Plus, BPA, a known endocrine disruptor, may also make you fat. A 2010 study published in Environmental Health News found that BPA influences fat cell development and fat storage.

A recent study, published in the journal Hypertension, found that BPA consumption leads to a temporary spike in blood pressure. The study reported a 

5 mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure after drinking two canned beverages. “And a small increase could be a problem for people who already have high blood pressure,” writes senior study author, Yun-Chul Hong of Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea.

Another recently published study in The Journal Of Nutrition classifies instant noodles as a suspect, and among other issues lists BPA present in the Styrofoam packaging as a health deterrent. In the Hypertension study, Yun-Chul suggests avoiding exposure to BPA and says people should try to eat fresh foods or food packed in glass containers rather than canned foods. The US’ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences also advises reduced use of canned foods and avoiding microwaving food in polycarbonate plastic containers, because they contain BPA which can leach into food.

Carcinogenic agents

“Acrylamide is formed in certain foods (particularly high-carbohydrate foods like potato chips, French fries and hash browns) when they are heated to high temperatures (above 120 degrees Celsius). It is a cancer-causing agent and also a potent neurotoxin, which adversely effects not only the brain, but also the reproductive system,” says Neelanjana Singh, chief clinical nutritionist, PSRI Hospital, New Delhi. Doughnuts and fried chicken are the other two common suspects for this toxic chemical as these are made at high temperatures. A 2013 study by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, US, and published in the journal The Prostate, reported that regular consumption of certain deep-fried foods, including doughnuts and fried chicken, is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. “This type of cooking leads to the formation of potentially carcinogenic agents such as aldehydes, acrolein, heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and acrylamide,” the study researchers wrote. They reported a 30-37% increased risk of prostate cancer among men who choose to eat fried chicken at least once a week. And if you like to order a serving of French fries along with it, then the risk multiplies. In the same study, the researchers mentioned that deep-fried foods contain high levels of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), associated with chronic inflammation and oxidative stress (i.e. body’s ability to detoxify free radicals). They gave the example of a chicken breast: when deep-fried for 20 minutes it contains more than nine times the amount of AGEs than a chicken breast boiled for an hour.

“Surely baking your fries at a low temperature sounds like a better idea. So does skipping doughnuts, fast food, even grilled food, that has been cooked over charcoal fire and which turns black due to high temperature cooking. Opting for baked home-cooked options is a better deal, and like always, as far as fast food is concerned, moderation is the key,” says Singh.