Study Finds Dietary Acrylamide Not Linked to Brain Cancer

A recent study has reportedly found no positive association between dietary acrylamide intake and brain cancer. Janneke G.F. Hogervorst, et al., “Dietary Acrylamide Intake and Brain Cancer Risk,” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, Vol. 18 (2009). Dutch researchers surveyed the dietary habits of 58,279 men and 62,573 women ages 55 through 69 who were enrolled in the Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and Cancer. The subjects’ dietary sources of acrylamide, the chemical by-product created by baking, frying and toasting foods at high temperatures, included potato chips, French fries, Dutch spiced cake, coffee, bread, and cookies. After adjusting for possible brain cancer risk factors, researchers concluded that hazard ratios for acrylamide were not significantly increased when dietary intake was analyzed as a categorical variable.

These same researchers have also concluded that dietary acrylamide is not linked to an increased risk of lung cancer. Those findings were covered in issue 302 of this Update. See FoodNavigator-USA.com, May 7, 2009.