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Soft drink consumers at a higher risk of cancer

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New York: People who consume one or more cans of cold drinks per day

are exposing themselves to a potential carcinogen, warns a new study.

The ingredient, 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) – a possible human

carcinogen – is formed during the manufacture of some kinds of caramel

colour. Caramel colour is a common ingredient in colas and other dark

soft drinks.

“Soft drink consumers are being exposed to an avoidable and

unnecessary cancer risk from an ingredient that is being added to

these beverages simply for aesthetic purposes,” said Keeve Nachman,

senior author of the study.

Building on an analysis of 4-MEI concentrations in 11 different soft

drinks first published by Consumer Reports in 2014, researchers

estimated exposure to 4-MEI from caramel-coloured soft drinks and

modelled the potential cancer burden related to routine soft drink

consumption levels in the United States.

“This unnecessary exposure poses a threat to public health and raises

questions about the continued use of caramel colouring in soda,”

Nachman of Johns Hopkins Center for a Liveable Future (CLF).

Results indicated that levels of 4-MEI could vary substantially across

samples, even for the same type of beverage.

While there is currently no federal limit for 4-MEI in food or

beverages, Consumer Reports petitioned the Food and Drug

Administration last year to set limits for the potential carcinogen.

“This new analysis underscores our belief that people consume

significant amounts of soda that unnecessarily elevate their risk of

cancer over the course of a lifetime,” said Urvashi Rangan, executive

director for Consumer Reports’ Food Safety and Sustainability Center.

The results were published online in the journal PLOS One.

Credit: IANS

Kofi Oppong Kyekyeku

I am a Ghanaian Broadcast Journalist/Writer who has an interest in General News, Sports, Entertainment, Health, Lifestyle and many more.

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