Researchers Link Food Additive in Processed Foods to Growth of Lung Tumors

According to animal studies conducted by Korean-based researchers, a common food additive used in processed meats and chicken, when fed to mice at levels roughly equivalent to human intake, increases lung tumor progression and growth. Hua Jin, et al., “High Dietary Inorganic Phosphate Increases Lung Tumorigenesis and Alters Akt Signaling,” American Journal of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine (2009). While phosphate is apparently an essential nutrient, its increasing use in foods ranging from processed meats to cheeses, beverages and bakery goods has more than doubled human intake since the 1990s to some 1,000 mg daily. The scientists concluded that “careful regulation of dietary Pi may be critical for lung cancer prevention as well as treatment.” See Foodnavigator-usa.com, January 6, 2009.