Health Byte:  

The cancer in your soft drink

Beware: Medical researchers are becoming increasingly worried about a carcinogenic ingredient added to many soft drinks. The problem, say scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Centre for a Livable Future (CLF), originates with the caramel colour added to many colas and other types of bubbly beverages. Caramel colour is used to darken colas and other types of drinks. The health problem arises because this colouring is frequently accompanied by 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI), a possible human carcinogen that is created during the production of some types of caramel colour.

In 2013 and 2014, Consumer Reports teamed with the CLF and analyzed the 4-MEI concentrations in 110 soft drinks that were purchased at New York and California retail stores.

The latest analysis incorporates those findings with beverage data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to judge how large the cancer risk is to people consuming soft drinks.

"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 researcher Keeve Nachman, director of the Food Production and Public Health Program at the CLF. "This unnecessary exposure poses a threat to public health and raises questions about the continued use of caramel colouring in soda."

"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, executive director for Consumer Reports' Food Safety and Sustainability Centre. "We believe beverage makers and the government should take the steps needed to protect public health..."

The researchers note that because California has tougher labelling requirements for products that contain suspected carcinogens, their chemical analysis showed that soft drinks sold in that state generally have lower levels of 4-MEI than the same brands sold in other states.

- Today's Health