Well, it's official. Everything gives you cancer now.

[ToxicAdam]

Crispy French fries and crunchy potato chips were never health foods, what with all the calories, fat and salt. But consumers just got a reminder that there's one more thing to worry about when they indulge in such foods: a chemical called acrylamide that might cause cancer.

For more than a decade, scientists have known that acrylamide forms when potatoes, cereal grains and some other plant foods are browned through frying, baking or roasting. That means it shows up in fries, chips, breakfast cereals, toasted bread, cookies, crackers and even coffee. Studies show the chemical can cause cancer in rodents at high doses. In humans, the cancer risk remains unclear, but health agencies around the world are concerned and calling for more study.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration took the latest step to address the potential risk when it released draft guidelines for the food industry. For example, FDA is urging potato growers to favor low-sugar varieties that produce less acrylamide and urging processors to decrease frying temperatures, tweak ingredients and avoid certain storage practices. Even cutting thicker fries and chips can help, FDA says.

Though the guidelines will not be binding, many companies already are making such changes and developing new ways to reduce the chemical, says Beth Johnson, a registered dietitian who is a consultant to the Snack Food Association, Washington, D.C.

"This has been a large focus of the industry for many years," she says. "Lots of time and money has gone into it."

Frozen potato makers have been particularly focused on reducing acrylamide, says Corey Henry, vice president of communications for the American Frozen Food Institute, McLean, Va. "Right now we are looking at the FDA guidance to see if there are opportunities to take additional actions," he says.

Henry notes that manufacturers long ago added package instructions advising consumers and restaurant workers to cook frozen fries only to "a light golden color" because of acrylamide concerns.

But no one is talking about eliminating acrylamide, which is in foods that make up 40% of calories in a typical American diet, according to the Grocery Manufacturers Association. The goal is to reach levels "as low as reasonably possible," Johnson says – without ending up with soft potato chips or other products consumers would not want.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/23/french-fries-acrylamide-fda/3642183/

Might as well start looking into  designer colostomy bags now.

[archnemesis]

The acrylamide scare is at least 10 years old. Probably closer to 20. They've even replaced the frying oils in large parts of the world because of it.

Edit: Wikipedia to the rescue! A report from 2002 forced all the local food producers to change their recipes. It was known to be neurotoxic back in the 50s.

[Huff]

everything causes or prevents cancer.

eat more broccoli

[ToxicAdam]

Should I eat my broccoli with toasted croutons? Seems like a great way to balance out the cancer.

[Stoney Mason]

everything causes or prevents cancer.

eat more broccoli

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2259280/Superfoods-make-cancer-MORE-likely-says-pioneer-DNA-study.html

[Great Rumbler]

#YOLO

[nudemacusers]

I put broccoli in my blunts #yolo

[CatsCatsCats]

We're all gonna die, I ain't givin up tater tots, this is America!

[Your Stalker]

i don't eat much of that stuff anyway

[Eric P]

I get the sand and the skull but not the flower.

i guess you could say i'm a momento moron

[Brehvolution]

I don't see how avoiding things is going to tell a cell to not start dividing into foreign cells.

[Himu]

I get the sand and the skull but not the flower.

i guess you could say i'm a momento moron

[Great Rumbler]

The only way to prevent cancer is to stop your cells from dividing according to my Biology 101 class. We're all going to die one day, no matter how healthy you eat or how much you exercise.

I had a professor in college [relatively young, had a son who was only 4-5 years old], who was obsessed with exercise, eating right, and taking all the proper supplements. Not long after I graduated, he had a heart attack and died. Basically, what I'm saying here is that your body is going to find a way to screw you over eventually.

[Joe Molotov]

Sucks to be you guys, I only eat freedom fries so I'm fine.  

[thisismyusername]

Everything gives you cancer now.

Old news, Adam. Old news.

This is why I'm on the "#YOLO" train of eating foods. While I try to eat healthy, I'm not going to give a damn about my diet. It's either high-blood pressure, Cancer, or environmental stuff that is going to get me eventually.

[benjipwns]

Not long after I graduated, he had a heart attack and died. Basically, what I'm saying here is that your body is going to find a way to screw you over eventually.

Or that you killed him by broken heart?

[Shadow Mod]

It's always something awesome.

It's never "Sean Hannity gives you cancer."

That's easy enough to avoid.

[Eel O'Brian]

I'd probably pay more attention to an exercise regimen and diet if I didn't have a manual labor job.  If I had a stationary job I'd likely weigh at least fifty pounds more than I do right now

[nudemacusers]

The perks of diet and exercise, while not including immortality, are still pretty good.

being white is the best tho

[recursivelyenumerable]

http://kill-or-cure.herokuapp.com/
"Help to make sense of the Daily Mail’s ongoing effort to classify every inanimate object into those that cause cancer and those that prevent it"

[Joe Molotov]

The perks of diet and exercise, while not including immortality, are still pretty good.

being white is the best tho

Boy is it ever!

[Huff]

The perks of diet and exercise, while not including immortality, are still pretty good.

being white is the best tho

well genetics is probably more important than anything you can eat or exercise you can do

[brawndolicious]

The perks of diet and exercise, while not including immortality, are still pretty good.

I won't lie, I hate people who talk about how much longer they can expect to live becuse they work out now and get egg yolk enemas. It doesn't really matter how much longer you'll live, just crack an egg up your ass if it'll make you feel better tomorrow.

[benjipwns]

You tell people you're doing something because of health and they think you're informed and well put together mentally, you tell people about all the things you stick in your ass because it feels good and they call you a pervert and avoid you.

Except here on The Bore. 

[pilonv1]

If I couldn't have breakfast cereal my life wouldn't be worth living