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Cancer warning over chips and biscuits

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Amy Nip

If the risk of getting fat doesn't stop people from eating too many chips, maybe the risk of cancer will.

That is the latest threat to emerge after tests on a range of baked and fried snacks.

The Consumer Council and Centre for Food Safety tested 90 types of snacks, and found all except one to contain a probable carcinogen: acrylamide.

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Crispy potato chips, in particular, contain high levels of the crystallised pollutant, which is formed naturally when foods are cooked.

While the two watchdogs did not spell out how many packets a person can eat before hitting danger levels, 'the fewer, the better' is their advice.

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In animal testing, acrylamide increases the chances of mice developing tumours in their organs, glands and central nervous system. While its effect on people remains unclear, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified it as 'probably carcinogenic to humans'.

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