The most commonly used additives, emulsifiers like guar gum and xantham are often added to processed and packaged foods to make them look more appealing, boost their taste and texture as well as increase shelf life.
Emulsifiers such as mono-and diglycerides of fatty acids, carrageenans, modified starches, lecithins, phosphates, celluloses, gums, and pectins have been associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. Emulsifiers have previously been connected to prostate and breast malignancies.
In a massive study involving 104,139 adults between 2009 and 2023, researchers from France's INRAE - National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment analyzed the associations between the dietary intakes of emulsifiers, assessed over a follow-up period of 14 years, and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Researchers from France’s INRAE - National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment studied the relationships between the dietary intakes of emulsifiers, assessed over a follow-up period of 14 years, and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in a large study including 104,139 adults between 2009 and 2023.
They diagnosed about 1,056 cases of diabetes as a result of chronic exposure to some emulsifiers.
These were carrageenans (3 per cent increased risk per increment of 100 mg per day); tripotassium phosphate (15 per cent increased risk per increment of 500 mg per day); mono- and diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (4 per cent increased risk per increment of 100 mg per day); sodium citrate (4 per cent increased risk per increment of 500 mg per day); guar gum (11 per cent increased risk per increment of 500 mg per day); gum arabic (3 per cent increased risk per increment of 1,000 mg per day) and xanthan gum (8 per cent increased risk per increment of 500 mg per day).
"These findings are issued from a single observational study for the moment, and cannot be used on their own to establish a causal relationship. They need to be replicated in other epidemiological studies worldwide and supplemented with toxicological and interventional experimental studies, to further inform the mechanisms linking these food additive emulsifiers and the onset of type 2 diabetes," explained Mathilde Touvier, Research Director at Inserm, and Bernard Srour, Junior Professor at INRAE -- lead authors of the study.
“However, our results represent key elements to enrich the debate on re-evaluating the regulations around the use of additives in the food industry, to better protect consumers,” they said.
(With IANS Inputs)
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