Chewing gum, toothpaste and TUNA could lead to CANCER, study finds
CHEWING GUM, toothpaste, tuna and even healthy almond butter could be damaging your health and could even lead to cancer, a study has found.
Titanium Dioxide is in the majority of processed foods
Ingesting nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, found in hundreds of everyday foods, "significantly defeated" the small intestines ability to absorb nutrients and act as a barrier to pathogens which produce diseases that can lead to cancer, research from Binghamton University in New York has found.
Sweets, chewing gum, toothpaste, sausages, custard, nut butter and canned fish all include the additive used to provide whiteness and opacity and to prevent clumping in most processed foods.
It is also used in white paints, plastic, papers and inks, as well as in mineral-based sunscreens to block ultraviolet light.
Food companies use it to create a smooth texture in chocolate, in powdered doughnuts to provide colour and also in skimmed milk to make it look less watery.
In 2006, the International Agency for Research on Cancer found the compound is "possibly carcinogenic to humans".
Almond butter has been lauded as a health food, but contains Titanium Dioxide
The newest study finding "chronic exposure" diminished the ability of the microvilli - intestinal cells - to absorb nutrients, especially iron, zinc and fatty acids.
Scientists exposed a small intestinal cell culture model to the equivalent of a meal's worth of titanium oxide nanoparticles - 30 nanometers across - over four hours and also three meals' worth over five days - which would be deemed as "chronic exposure".
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Co-author Gretchen Mahler, a biomedical engineering assistant professor, said: "Titanium oxide is a common food additive and people have been eating a lot of it for a long time - don't worry, it won't kill you! - but we were interested in some of the subtle effects, and we think people should know about them.
"There has been previous work on how titanium oxide nanoparticles affects microvilli, but we are looking at much lower concentrations.
"We also extended previous work to show that these nanoparticles alter intestinal function."
Chewing gum has titanium dioxide in it
Sausages are carcinogenic and contain titanium dioxide
Titanium dioxide is used in toothpaste for abrasion and in a 2012 study by Arizone State University, about five per cent of 89 common foods tested, including gum and mayonnaise, contained nanoparticles of the compound.
Professor Mahler, added: "To avoid foods rich in titanium oxide nanoparticles you should avoid processed foods, and especially candy.
"That is where you see a lot of nanoparticles."