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Consumption of ultra-processed foods and cancer risk: results from NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort.
Fiolet, T, Srour, B, Sellem, L, Kesse-Guyot, E, Allès, B, Méjean, C, Deschasaux, M, Fassier, P, Latino-Martel, P, Beslay, M, et al
BMJ (Clinical research ed.). 2018;360:k322
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Plain language summary
Foods that are heavily processed tend to have high levels of total fat, sugar and salt and low levels of fibre and vitamins. They also tend to have high levels of contaminants (caused for example by high heat treatment), food additives and plastic packaging exposure. This large prospective population-based cohort study assessed the association between ultra-processed food consumption and the incidence of cancer. The study found that ultra-processed food intake was associated with a higher overall cancer risk and a higher breast cancer risk. A 10% increase in the consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with an increase of more than 10% greater risk of overall and breast cancer risk. The authors call for further studies to better understand the different elements of food processing and their association to cancer risk.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To assess the prospective associations between consumption of ultra-processed food and risk of cancer. DESIGN Population based cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS 104 980 participants aged at least 18 years (median age 42.8 years) from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort (2009-17). Dietary intakes were collected using repeated 24 hour dietary records, designed to register participants' usual consumption for 3300 different food items. These were categorised according to their degree of processing by the NOVA classification. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Associations between ultra-processed food intake and risk of overall, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer assessed by multivariable Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for known risk factors. RESULTS Ultra-processed food intake was associated with higher overall cancer risk (n=2228 cases; hazard ratio for a 10% increment in the proportion of ultra-processed food in the diet 1.12 (95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.18); P for trend<0.001) and breast cancer risk (n=739 cases; hazard ratio 1.11 (1.02 to 1.22); P for trend=0.02). These results remained statistically significant after adjustment for several markers of the nutritional quality of the diet (lipid, sodium, and carbohydrate intakes and/or a Western pattern derived by principal component analysis). CONCLUSIONS In this large prospective study, a 10% increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods in the diet was associated with a significant increase of greater than 10% in risks of overall and breast cancer. Further studies are needed to better understand the relative effect of the various dimensions of processing (nutritional composition, food additives, contact materials, and neoformed contaminants) in these associations. STUDY REGISTRATION Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03335644.
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Association of Frequency of Organic Food Consumption With Cancer Risk: Findings From the NutriNet-Santé Prospective Cohort Study.
Baudry, J, Assmann, KE, Touvier, M, Allès, B, Seconda, L, Latino-Martel, P, Ezzedine, K, Galan, P, Hercberg, S, Lairon, D, et al
JAMA internal medicine. 2018;178(12):1597-1606
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Cancer has several risk factors for its development including the presence of pesticides in the environment. Organic foods arguably have less pesticides than conventionally grown produce and the consumption of these should therefore lower an individuals chance of developing cancer. However, very few studies exist looking at this association. This observational study of 68946 individuals aimed to determine the association between organic food intake and cancer risk. The results showed that the most prevalent cancers were breast, prostate and skin cancer and an increased consumption of organic food, lowered the risk for the development of cancer. It was concluded that a higher intake of organic foods could reduce the risk of developing cancer, however further studies are warranted to investigate initial findings. This study could be used by healthcare professionals to understand that a diet rich in organic food could be of benefit for the prevention of cancer, however further studies are required before firm recommendations can be made.
Abstract
Importance: Although organic foods are less likely to contain pesticide residues than conventional foods, few studies have examined the association of organic food consumption with cancer risk. Objective: To prospectively investigate the association between organic food consumption and the risk of cancer in a large cohort of French adults. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this population-based prospective cohort study among French adult volunteers, data were included from participants with available information on organic food consumption frequency and dietary intake. For 16 products, participants reported their consumption frequency of labeled organic foods (never, occasionally, or most of the time). An organic food score was then computed (range, 0-32 points). The follow-up dates were May 10, 2009, to November 30, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures: This study estimated the risk of cancer in association with the organic food score (modeled as quartiles) using Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for potential cancer risk factors. Results: Among 68 946 participants (78.0% female; mean [SD] age at baseline, 44.2 [14.5] years), 1340 first incident cancer cases were identified during follow-up, with the most prevalent being 459 breast cancers, 180 prostate cancers, 135 skin cancers, 99 colorectal cancers, 47 non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and 15 other lymphomas. High organic food scores were inversely associated with the overall risk of cancer (hazard ratio for quartile 4 vs quartile 1, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.63-0.88; P for trend = .001; absolute risk reduction, 0.6%; hazard ratio for a 5-point increase, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.88-0.96). Conclusions and Relevance: A higher frequency of organic food consumption was associated with a reduced risk of cancer. If these findings are confirmed, further research is necessary to determine the underlying factors involved in this association.