Food safety issues may be increasing in Europe but according to a recent study of people's diets, levels of a group of harmful chemicals have fallen in food during the past 20 years.
A UK Food Standards Agency study set out to investigate the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) - a potential carcinogen directly created in smoked food.
By measuring the PAH levels in a range of different foods and combining this with information held on people's diets collected in 2000, the amount of PAHs that people eat can be estimated.
In 2000, intakes for both adults and children were two to five times lower than they were in 1979 for two of the three most harmful PAHs. The other most harmful PAH was at such a low level that it could not be detected in 2000, reports the FSA.
Pycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analysed in samples of the food groups that made up the 2000 Total Diet Study (TDS). PAHs are produced during combustion processes such as the burning of fossil fuels and refuse. They do not degrade easily and are widespread in the environment, including at low levels in food.
PAHs may also be produced by smoking foods and food ingredients. Some PAHs, in particular benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), have a potential to cause cancer by interacting with the genetic material in the cell. Exposure to such chemicals should be as low as reasonably possible.
The study was carried out by the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT), which advises the Foods Standards Agency on the toxicity of chemicals.