Contaminated food The health risk is usually underestimated

Risks from contaminants in food are often unknown to consumers
Although many people consider contamination of foods with harmful substances to be a high risk, the individual contaminants are often not known as such, according to a recent survey by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR)..

"Nearly 60 percent of the German population see in unwanted substances in food a high or very high health risk," reports the BfR of the survey results. Here are mercury compounds and dioxins the most famous of these undesirable substances, which are scientifically referred to as contaminants, so the Federal Institute on. Natural contaminants such as arsenic in rice or Pyrrolizidinalkaloide (PA) in honey or tea were, however, not known to most respondents. The results of the study were published in the "Bundesgesundheitsblatt".

The risk of contaminants in foods such as arsenic in rice is underestimated by most consumers. (Image: sattriani / fotolia.com)

What are contaminants in food?
Contaminants are unwanted substances that inadvertently get into food, the BfR explains. These can naturally occur in the environment, arise during the processing of raw materials into foods or be released into the environment through human activities and thus enter the food chain, reports the Federal Institute. The contaminants are undesirable because they may affect their health.

Assessment of the health risk
A total of 1,001 persons were surveyed in the representative population survey by means of computer-assisted telephone interviews on the subject of contaminants in food, according to the BfR's statement. It has become clear that most respondents classify contaminants as a high health risk, "although only a minority spontaneously lists contaminants in the sense of the scientific-legal definition as examples of undesirable substances in foods."

Many respondents name substances that are not contaminants
More than half of the respondents referred to the term contaminants when referring spontaneously to substances that are not considered as such, the BfR experts report. A good 30 percent of respondents cited food additives as examples of undesirable substances in foods, with flavor enhancers (12.4%) and preservatives and dyes (9% and 8.8%) being the most commonly cited.

Risk often unknown
On specific demand, however, the subjects were well aware of some contaminants. Above all, the mercury in fish (called by 78 percent of respondents) and the dioxin in eggs (called by 70 percent). Also in the case of acrylamide in French fries or toasted bread, the reputation was still quite high (called by 44 percent). But other contaminants, such as pyrrolizidine alkaloids in tea or honey (called 13 percent) and benzpyrene in grilled meat (called 18 percent), were unknown to most respondents. Also, the possible arsenic exposure to rice and rice products recognized only 26 percent of respondents as a health risk.

According to the BfR, the comparatively new consumer protection topics are only known to a minority of respondents. Only 36 percent of those who have heard of PA would see a significant health risk with these substances. For arsenic, this applies to 57 percent of those who have already heard of possible contamination of rice products with this metalloid.

Women rather sensitized to the topic
According to the results of the survey, the general attitude to contaminants in food and the assessment of possible health risks also differ according to population groups. For example, men would lower the risk of unwanted substances in barbecued meat than women and generally less frequently deal with the topic of undesirable substances in foods in their everyday lives than female interviewees. Among younger respondents, significantly more people (around 41 percent of 14- to 29-year-olds) felt badly informed about undesirable substances in foods than older respondents (15 percent of those over 60).

Reaching less well informed groups of people
"Synthetics and heavy metals make people feel most threatened," and "proper risk communication about contaminants should take this subjective risk perception into account," summarizes BfR President Professor Dr. med. Dr. Andreas Hensel. According to the BfR, respondents whose information is already comparatively high are particularly interested in additional information on possible protective measures, legal regulations and product groups affected. But those who are less knowledgeable need to be reached. "When it comes to communicating health risks, the challenge is above all to sensitize less well-informed groups of people to the topic," says the BfR. (Fp)