Yesterday’s paper brought an interesting article by Libby Quaid for the AP titled:
Cancer-causing food byproduct raises concern: FDA takes heat over natural byproduct in starch.
The article focused on acrylamide, a known carcinogen (at least in lab rats) that is produced by heating starch to high temperatures, such as in baking, roasting, and frying. Therefore, as Ms. Quaid points out
Acrylamide turns up in all kinds of tasty foods, including french fries, potato chips, breakfast cereals, cookies and crackers.
Just looking at that list makes me shudder, when I realize that these foods–plus hot-oven baked pizza dough–make up the vast bulk of what most U.S. kids eat.
Is it dangerous to humans? The jury is still out, but until it’s in, for me, it’s yet another good reason to avoid a high intake of starchy foods.
The Weston A. Price Foundation website (www.westonaprice.org) has some interesting descriptions of the damage done to starchy foods in the extrusion process (cold cereals, snack foods, pet kibble, etc.). At first it seemed a bit silly, but we were reducing grains forthe adults in our family anyway so I didn’t need a lot persuasion that we should stop buying cold cereal for our son, even low sugar TJ varieties . He misses cold cereal. But this is further evidence that the WAPF was onto something and I made the right decision.
Cheers,
Anna
COMMENT from MD EADES: Right you are. You can always make a nice cold trail munchy nut-ola “cereal” out of sliced almonds, pecan pieces, walnut pieces, some rolled oats (if desired), a few raisins or other dried fruits to sweeten it just a hair, and a bit of cinnamon to spice it up.