Food coloring in soft drinks carries cancer risk, new study shows
The caramel coloring used in many soda products produces a carcinogen that could raise the risk of cancer in consumers
The latest results of a study comparing the attributes of 11 different soft drinks, as well as analyzing the consumption habits of Americans, have shown that drinking as little as one soda a day could be enough to expose consumers to potentially cancer-causing levels of the chemical 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MEI for short.
The carcinogen is formed as a byproduct of the process that creates the familiar dark caramel color that is added to many popular beverages. A California law has determined that drinks pose an “excess cancer risk” if consuming the product exposes the drinker to more than 29 mcg of 4-MEI every day. The law requires companies to include a warning label on drinks sold in the state that exceed these levels. Other states, however, do not have such precautions in place, and researchers found drinks containing 4-MEI levels that ranged from 9.5 mcg per liter to 963 mcg per liter.
The study was led by a team at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future in Baltimore, MD. They tested 110 samples of soda brands which revealed widely varied concentrations of 4-MEI. Generally, however, they found that the levels were “consistent across lots of the same beverage purchased in the same state/area.” Some soft drinks in California contained noticeably lower levels of 4-MEI, which led researchers to believe that the state’s required warning labels were effective in reducing cancer risk to consumers.
