Photo credit: CNN
Common preservatives used to keep food safe and extend shelf life may be linked to a higher risk of several cancers and type 2 diabetes, according to two new studies from France.
CNN reports that senior author Mathilde Touvier, who is the principal investigator of the NutriNet-Sante study used to conduct the research, said, “These are very important findings for preservatives that are not only widely used in the French and European markets, but also in the United States.”
The study, which began in 2009, compares over 170,000 participants’ web-based reports on diet and lifestyle with their medical data stored in the French national healthcare system.
“These are the first two studies in the world investigating the associations between these two additives and cancer and type 2 diabetes,” said Touvier, who is also the director of research at France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Paris, “and so we must be very cautious about the message. Obviously, the results need to be confirmed.”
Despite these caveats, “the concern raised about preservatives is one more reason among many to emphasize the personal and public health importance of fresh, whole, minimally processed foods, mostly plants,” said Dr David Katz in an email.
Katz, who was not involved in the study, is a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine who founded the nonprofit True Health Initiative, a global coalition of experts dedicated to evidence-based lifestyle medicine.
The cancer study, published Wednesday in The BMJ journal, closely examined the impact of 58 preservatives on some 1005,000 people who were free of cancer in 2005 and were followed for up to 14 years. Only those who completed frequent 24-hour, brand-specific food questionnaires were included. People who ate the most preservative-laced foods were compared with those who ate the least.
