In brief: Acrylamide: No longer such a hot potato
The chemical acrylamide, which forms as a byproduct of cooking many baked and fried foods, was thought to cause cancer, but subsequent research has not supported this view. Researchers have rummaged through diet and cancer data, looking for an association with bladder, colorectal, esophageal, gastric, pancreatic, and prostate cancer, and have emerged empty-handed. Harvard researchers didn't find a connection to premenopausal breast cancer. A Danish group did, but it was only among smokers, and the exposure to acrylamide from tobacco smoke dwarfs the intake from diet.
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