Salt, vinegar, asparaginase?
February 27, 2010
Joanna Smith
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA–A proposal to treat snacks with a cancer-fighting enzyme has some groups calling on the government to consider more natural ways to combat a harmful chemical found in processed foods.
Canada has wrapped up a 75-day online consultation on its proposal to let manufacturers add small amounts of asparaginase – an enzyme derived from genetically modified strains of fungi that is used to treat leukemia – to baked and fried foods made from potatoes or grains.
The additive has been shown to help prevent the formation of a chemical called acrylamide, which appears as a natural by-product when plant-based foods rich in carbohydrates but low in protein are cooked at high temperatures.
Studies have linked acrylamide to cancer in laboratory animals.
The jury is still out on whether it is carcinogenic in people, but regulators and manufacturers have been researching ways to deal with it since it was first discovered by Swedish scientists in 2002.
Canadian industry welcomes the potential approval of the additive, but at least two groups who submitted letters to the public consultation process said Canada should more carefully consider the problem before trying to solve it.
"It has been shown that different cooking methods ahead of time can also reduce the risk of acrylamide being formed during the cooking process. The drawbacks are primarily visual. The food doesn't look as good," said Terry Pugh, executive secretary of the National Farmers Union.
"I think if you're looking at a trade-off over whether the food looks good or whether you're introducing a genetically modified enzyme that could have unknown effects, I think the trade-off is pretty easy to make."
The National Farmers Union and the Conservation Council of New Brunswick both urged Health Canada to hold off on approving the use of asparaginase as a food additive until departmental scientists could conduct independent, third-party testing to determine its long-term health effects instead of just reviewing the literature already out there.
A spokesman for the department said its scientific assessment was thorough enough.
"Enzymes in general have a long history of safe use in food processing. As a result, the scientific community has a great deal of expertise in their evaluation," Gary Holub wrote in an email, adding that Health Canada has concluded there are no health or safety concerns with using asparaginase as proposed.
Asparaginase is deactivated during the cooking process.
Meanwhile, industry has already been studying alternatives.
Snack food giant Frito-Lay, whose scientists discovered the benefits of asparaginase when researching how to deal with acrylamide at the urging of regulatory bodies soon after it was discovered, patented a process for adding the enzyme to its products.
The company has since learned that asparaginase works well for dough-based products but is ineffective for its potato chips and French fries.
Toronto Star
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