POPULAR SODA INGREDIENTS , CARAMEL COLOR , POSES CANCER RISK TO CONSUMERS
Public health
researchers have analyzed soda consumption data in order to characterize
people's exposure to a potentially carcinogenic byproduct of some types of
caramel color. Caramel color is a common ingredient in colas and other dark
soft drinks. The results show that between 44 and 58 percent of people over the
age of six typically have at least one can of soda per day, possibly more,
potentially exposing them to 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI), a possible human
carcinogen formed during the manufacture of some kinds of caramel color
The results were
published online today in PLOS One.
Building on an
analysis of 4-MEI concentrations in 11 different soft drinks first published by
Consumer Reports in 2014, researchers led by a team at the Johns Hopkins Center
for a Livable Future (CLF) estimated exposure to 4-MEI from caramel-colored soft
drinks and modeled the potential cancer burden related to routine soft drink
consumption levels in the United States.
"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," says Keeve Nachman, PhD, senior author of the study and
director of the Food Production and Public Health Program at the CLF and an
assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "This
unnecessary exposure poses a threat to public health and raises questions about
the continued use of caramel coloring in soda."
In 2013 and early
2014, Consumer Reports partnered with the CLF to analyze 4-MEI concentrations
of 110 soft drink samples purchased from retail stores in California and the
New York metropolitan area. This study pairs those results with population
beverage consumption data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey (NHANES) in order to estimate the population risks and cancer burden
associated with 4-MEI exposures through soda.
While the 2014 study
of the 110 samples of soda brands was not large enough to recommend one brand
over another or draw conclusions about specific brands, results indicated that
levels of 4-MEI could vary substantially across samples, even for the same type
of beverage. "For example, for diet colas, certain samples had higher or
more variable levels of the compound, while other samples had very low
concentrations," says Tyler Smith, lead author of the study and a program
officer with the CLF.
While there's
currently no federal limit for 4-MEI in food or beverages, Consumer Reports
petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to set limits for the potential
carcinogen last year. It also shared the findings with the California Attorney
General's office, which enforces the state's Proposition 65 law aimed at
reducing consumers' exposure to toxic chemicals. Under this state law, any food
or beverage sold in the state that exposes consumers to more than a specific
amount of 4-MEI per day requires a health-warning label.
"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," says Urvashi Rangan, PhD, executive director for Consumer
Reports' Food Safety and Sustainability Center. "We believe beverage
makers and the government should take the steps needed to protect public
health. California has already taken an important step by setting a threshold for
prompting Prop 65 labeling based on daily 4-MEI exposure from a food or
beverage, such as a soda. This study sought to answer a critical question: How
much soda do American consumers drink on average?"
Researchers also found
sharply contrasting levels of 4-MEI in some soft drinks purchased in the New
York metropolitan area, versus California. "Our study also found that some
of the soft drink products sold in California that we sampled had lower levels
of 4-MEI than the samples we looked at of the same beverages sold outside the
state, particularly in our earlier rounds of testing. It appears that
regulations such as California's Proposition 65 may be effective at reducing
exposure to 4-MEI from soft drinks, and that beverages can be manufactured in
ways that produce less 4-MEI," suggests Nachman. "An FDA
intervention, such as determining maximum levels for 4-MEI in beverages, could
be a valuable approach to reducing excess cancer risk attributable to 4-MEI
exposure in the U.S. population."
The research was
supported by Consumers Union, Grace Communications Foundation, and the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (1K01HL096409).
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