Popular food additives increase the risk of cancer and diabetes

The large-scale NutriNet-Santé project has allowed specialists to monitor the diet of a huge number of volunteers for a long time. People regularly filled out detailed questionnaires about what they were eating. The analysis of these data revealed clear patterns.

Nitrites and nitrates, which manufacturers generously add to ham, bacon and sausages to preserve their appetizing pink color and protect against bacteria, were on the list of main suspects. It turned out that sodium nitrite is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer by almost a third. Of course, this is not comparable to smoking, which increases the chances of lung cancer by 15 times, but the numbers still make you think about the contents of your refrigerator.

Another popular preservative, potassium sorbate, often used to prevent mold in beverages and desserts, has shown a correlation with metabolic disorders. Those who frequently consumed foods with this supplement were twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Critics from the scientific community praise the methodology of their French colleagues, but advise interpreting the data carefully. Tom Sanders, a nutrition specialist at King’s College London, noted an important caveat: it is extremely difficult to separate the harm of a particular supplement from the harm of the product itself.

Wine is a prime example. In winemaking, sodium metabisulfite is often used to kill yeast. Statistics may show a link between this substance and cancer, but the culprit is most likely alcohol, which in itself is a powerful carcinogen. The same applies to processed meat: not only can preservatives be harmful, but also excess salt or saturated fats.

The advice for everyone is simple: try to choose food in the store with a minimum degree of processing. The shorter the composition on the label and the fewer obscure chemical names there are, the better for the body. Sanders also proposed introducing mandatory labeling with warnings about the dangers of nitrates, similar to how tobacco or alcohol is currently labeled.

The publication of these data coincided with drastic measures in the UK, where the authorities banned daytime advertising of unhealthy foods high in fat, salt and sugar on TV and on the Internet.