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De Omnibus Dubitandum - Lux Veritas

Monday, January 29, 2018

California’s Cancerous Coffee Nonsense

If you have ever visited California, you have probably encountered the warning labels that appear on everything from seaweed to soft drinks, informing you that they contain “dangerous” ingredients that might cause cancer or birth defects. State law requires food manufacturers put the label on products that contain any one of 900 chemicals supposedly linked to such risks. Now a state judge may add coffee to the ever-growing list of “risky” products. Such a decision might finally wake residents to the fact that the overly cautious warnings are nothing more than a boondoggle.

California voters approved Proposition 65 back in 1986, requiring warning labels for products containing chemicals “known to the state to cause cancer or birth defects.” One of the chemicals is acrylamide, a naturally occurring chemical compound. While present in many raw foods, acrylamide is also produced when foods that contain both starch and amino acids (e.g. potatoes, grains, meat, and beans) are heated to high temperatures. As a result, products like French fries, roasted potatoes, toast, and now coffee contain levels of the chemical above California’s allowed limit.

The problem is that the evidence linking many of the 900 chemicals to risk is slim to none. ......To Read More...

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