Hazards of fast food.

In the article "Another Fast-Food Fear," Fields (2003) discussed the possible contaminants such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in cardboard containers used to serve fast foods. The possible impurities, such as PFOA, are not likely to be high-risk products because they are not ingested by the consumers. It seems that the emphasis is misplaced. The real risk is the fried meat itself, which contains heterocyclic amines. Heterocyclic amines are documented mutagens and carcinogens in animal models (Nagao and Sugimura 2000; Weisburger 2002), and for which there is human evidence not only of several types of high-incidence cancers, such as colon, breast, and prostate, but which also affect the heart muscle (Butler et al. 2003). Documentation on these facts were reported at the "8th International Conference on Carcinogenic/Mutagenic N-Substituted Aryl Compounds" (Snyderwine et al. 2002).

The author declares he has no competing financial interests.

REFERENCES

Butler LM, Sinha R, Millikan RC, Martin CF, Newman B, Gammon MD, et al. 2003. Heterocyclic amines, meat intake, and association with colon cancer in a population-based study. Am J Epidemiol. 157:434-445.

Fields S. 2003. Another fast-food fear. Environ Health Perspect 111:A872.

Nagao M, Sugimura T, eds. 2000. Food Borne Carcinogens: Heterocyclic Amines. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Snyderwine EG, Sinha R, Felton JS, Ferguson LR. 2002. Highlights of the Eighth International Conference on Carcinogenic/Mutagenic N-Substituted Aryl Compounds. Mutat Ros 506-507:1-8.

Weisburger JH. 2002. Comments on the history and importance of aromatic and heterocyclic amines in public health. Mutat Res 506-507:9-20.

John H. Weisburger

Institute for Cancer Prevention

American Health Foundation

Valhalla, New York 

E-mail: [e-mail]