A soft madeleine as if it were made the same day, a yogurt that lasts for weeks without changing its taste, an ice cream that doesn’t melt too quickly even in the middle of summer. This is made possible by the addition of emulsifiers during the industrial manufacturing process: these additives make these highly processed foods more appetizing and stabilize their taste and texture over time.
However, consuming certain emulsifiers is associated with a higher risk of developing cancer. This is the conclusion of a French study published on Tuesday, February 13th in the monthly overview PLOS medicine, and conducted on more than 90,000 people who were part of the cohort NutriNet-Santéwhose health, lifestyle and consumption habits were analyzed over almost seven years.
This monitoring was carried out on Such a large cohort made it possible to individually isolate which additives were consumed and in what quantities based on the products purchased by participants. Other risk factors such as alcohol or tobacco could also be taken into account to compensate for possible biases.
Desserts, pastries or ice cream
Of the 60 emulsifiers examined, several were identified as problematic. For example, researchers found that higher intake of E471 – mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids – increased the risk of breast cancer (24%) and prostate cancer (46%) by 15%. Certain additives or groups of additives (E407 and E407a, E450, E440 and E500) have been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer – particularly in premenopausal women for the last three. Other relationships were also observed, but they were not robust enough to pass all the statistical tests the scientists conducted.
These emulsifiers are contained in many industrial products – for example, more than eight out of ten participants consumed products containing E471 every day. It is found particularly in desserts, pastries or ice cream, but also in “Foods that are not necessarily labeled as “junk food””, emphasizes nutritionist and head of research at Inserm Mathilde Touvier, who carried out this study with her team. We can quote for example “Cereal rusks or margarine enriched with Omega 3, consumed mainly by people who want to take care of their cardiovascular health”she illustrates.
You still have 50% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
