Some food preservatives linked to higher cancer, diabetes risk

Eating some common food preservatives is linked to a slightly higher risk of eventually developing cancer and diabetes, according to two large French studies published Thursday.

However, outside experts called for more research and emphasised that these kinds of observational studies cannot demonstrate a direct cause-and-effect relationship.

The first study, published in the journal BMJ, said it observed “multiple associations between preservatives that are widely used in industrial foods and beverages on the European market… and higher incidences of overall, breast and prostate cancers”.

The preservatives included nitrites and nitrates, which are often used to cure ham, bacon and sausages.

The second study, published in Nature Communications, also found a link between eating some food additives and developing type 2 diabetes.

Both studies were based on an ongoing research project in which more than 100,000 French people fill out regular questionnaires about their diet.

French epidemiologist Mathilde Touvier, who supervised both studies, told AFP that “consuming products with preservatives does not mean you will immediately develop cancer”.

“But we need to limit how much we are exposed to these products,” she said.

“The message for the general public is to choose the least processed foods when shopping in the supermarket.”

The strongest link found in the first study was between sodium nitrite and prostate cancer, which increased the risk by around a third.

However, the level of increased risk remained moderate. For comparison, heavy smoking raises the risk of getting lung cancer by more than 15 times.

Potassium sorbate, which is commonly used to stop mould and bacteria from growing in food and drink, was associated with twice the risk of developing diabetes.

Researchers not involved in the studies praised its robust methodology but warned it was premature for consumers to change their behaviour until more research is conducted.

Tom Sanders, a nutrition expert at King’s College London, cautioned that the results could be “due to an inability to completely correct for other factors already known to contribute to risk”.

For example, processed meat and alcohol are both already strongly linked to higher cancer rates.

This could mean that it was not sodium metabisulphite — which is used in winemaking to kill yeast — that was causing cancer, but actually drinking the wine, Sanders suggested.

But one option could be to label foods “that use nitrates/nitrites with a health warning”, he added.

The studies were published days after the UK banned daytime TV, radio and online advertisements for unhealthy food and drinks that are high in fat, salt and sugar.