Canada adds acrylamide to toxic substance list

Health Canada has added acrylamide to the government’s list of toxic substances.

Having added acrylamide to its toxic list, Health Canada will be pursing a three-pronged strategy to reduce exposure to the substance from food sources.

It will press the food industry to develop effective ways of reducing the presence of acrylamide in food and will coordinate with food regulators abroad on risk management. The government body also promised to provide consumers with regularly updated advice.

The decision to add acrylamide to the toxic list comes despite a large number of studies being published since the 2002 Swedish study finding no cancer link. Most recently, scientists at Maastricht University in the Netherlands published a study this spring in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &Preventionintakes finding no link between acrylamide and brain cancer.

The inclusion of the chemical on Health Canada’s toxic list is part of the Canadian government’s ongoing review of nearly two hundred chemical substances in widespread commercial use that have never before been subjected to thorough risk analysis.