研究表明：肉类添加剂可能致癌并非杞人忧天

    食品伙伴网报道，根据美国食品导航网8月3日消息，一个新的流行病学研究报告表明，加工肉类中的一些成分可能会增加患膀胱癌的风险。而在此前，红肉和加工肉类的消费者已被与某类风险正在增加的癌症相联系，动物实验的研究表明，某些化合物可能是导致这种联系的幕后黑手。这些化合物包括亚硝酸盐和硝酸盐，它们作为防腐剂添加到加工肉类中，可以增强色彩和味道，它们可分解成N -亚硝基化合物，以及杂环胺、多环芳香碳氢化合物。

    美国国家癌症研究所的阿曼达克洛斯和其同事研究了大约30万份来自1995-1996年期间年龄50-71岁的男性和女性所完成的饮食问卷调查而积累的数据。布莱克威尔出版控股有限公司（Blackwell Publishing Holdings Ltd）下属的癌症杂志于网上（在印刷之前）公布他们的新的前瞻性研究。他们能看到所消费的肉类产品的类型，以及如何加工，从而可以计算出人们所接触到的硝酸盐和亚硝酸盐。受访者被美国国立卫生研究院-美国退休者协会的饮食与健康研究跟踪调查7年，其间854人被诊断出患有膀胱癌。

    那些最高硝酸盐摄入量（来自所有来源，包括肉类）的人群和那些从肉类中摄入硝酸盐与亚硝酸盐的量最高的人群，与那些最低摄入量的人群相比，被认为患上膀胱癌的风险增加28%-29%。研究者说，这些发现为饮食中的亚硝酸盐以及加工肉类产品中的硝酸盐和亚硝酸盐会导致膀胱癌这一联系提供了适当的证据，

    本报道由食品伙伴网编译整理，仅供食品行业相关人士参考，详细内容以国外原文报道为准。

    原文地址：http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Study-supports-concerns-over-meat-additive-cancer-link

    原文报道：

Study supports concerns over meat additive-cancer link

By Jess Halliday, 03-Aug-2010

Related topics: Science & Nutrition, Meat, fish and savoury ingredients, Preservatives and acidulants

A new epidemiological study has reported modest support for suggestions that some components in processed meat may increase risk of bladder cancer.

Consumption of red- and processed meat has previously been linked to an increased risk of developing certain types of cancer, and animal studies have indicated that certain compounds could be behind the purported link.

These compounds include nitrites and nitrates, which are added to processed meats as preservatives and to enhance colour and flavour and break down into N-nitroso compounds, as well as heterocyclic amine, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

For their new prospective study published online (ahead of print) in the Wiley Blackwell journal Cancer, Amanda Cross and colleagues from the US National Cancer Institute studied data amassed from dietary questionnaires completed by around 300,000 men and women aged 50-71 years in 1995 and 1996.

They were able to see what types of meat were consumed and how it was prepared, and from this calculate what people’s exposure to nitrates and nitrites would have been.

The participants were followed for 7 years for the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, during which time 854 people were diagnosed with bladder cancer.

Those with the highest intake of nitrite in their diets – from all sources including meat – and those with the highest intake of nitrate plus nitrite from meats, were seen to have a 28-29 per cent increased risk of developing bladder cancer compared to those with the lowest intakes.

Cross and colleagues concluded: “These findings provide modest support for an increased risk of bladder cancer with total dietary nitrite and nitrite plus nitrate from processed meat.”

In addition, a positive association was observed between red meat consumption and PhiP, the most abundant hetercyclic amine in cooked meat, and bladder carcinogensis.

“Our findings highlight the importance of studying meat-related compounds to better understand the association between meat and cancer risk,” said Cross. “Comprehensive epidemiologic data on meat-related exposures and bladder cancer are lacking; our findings should be followed up in other prospective studies.”

In particular a need has been observed for more studies focused on red meat and bladder cancer, and especially PhiP, “as prospective investigations of meat-related mutagens and this malignancy are lacking”.