Health aluminum from food

Aluminum from food: health risks could be avoided
Many people try to avoid aluminum in everyday life, if there is a suitable alternative. This is a result of the consumer monitor on aluminum recently submitted by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). Around 1,000 people, ages 14 and up, took part in the representative survey.

Food made from uncoated aluminum dinner trays can contain high levels of aluminum. This has resulted in an investigation by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). Especially when keeping warm, the light metal is transferred to acidic foods. (Image: tunedin / fotolia.com)

Aluminum can shift from packaging and containers to food, which consumers perceive as a health risk. Almost half of Germans have already taken countermeasures (46%). In the food sector, the reduced use of aluminum foil is in the foreground (31%).

A large proportion of respondents were aware that salt and acidic foods such as sliced ​​apples and tomatoes should not be stored in aluminum foil (54%) and stainless steel barbecue bowls are the better choice (48%). Other precautions were less well known. Ideally, foods grilled in aluminum foil are then salted and seasoned (36%). And espresso makers are not in the dishwasher (33%).

Aluminum is a light metal that is naturally abundant on Earth. Aluminum is soluble under the influence of acid or salt. For this reason, for example, beverage cans, yogurt cup lids and fruit juice cartons are coated on the inside in order to avoid a transfer to food. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has set a tolerable weekly intake of 1 milligram of aluminum per kilogram of body weight through food.

For this value, effects on the nervous system, fertility and unborn life as well as effects on bone development were considered. For some of the population, this intake level can be exceeded, so that the additional intake of aluminum should be as low as possible. Heike Kreutz, bzfe