HEALTH: Acrylamide, a carcinogen, was found at a level above the European standards in the Nestlé brand baby biscuits sold in France, and at levels close to this threshold in two other products, according to the foundation Changing Markets.
According to an independent analysis of 25 cookies for children in infancy marketed in France, acrylamide, classified as probable by WHO, was found at a concentration of 226.1 micrograms per kilo in the “P’tit Biscuit crisp and tender texture “Nestlé brand.
At European level the maximum recommended for cookies for young children has been set at 200 micrograms remind Changing Markets, the environmental NGO WECF and the gathering of SumOfUs consumers in a statement released Thursday. The concentration found is as close to the maximum tolerated in the organic biscuits “My 1st Orange Cookies” Picot, brand of the Lactalis group (198.3 micrograms) and the “junior biscuits chocolate chip” Carrefour brand (192 micrograms).
All other products analyzed, including other cookies the three contested marks, are well below (less than 30 to 135.5 micrograms). The presence of acrylamide in foods is documented since 2002, particularly in food starch, when they are fried or baked at high temperatures.
In September, the French Agency for the Safety of Food, Environment and Labour (Anses) had pinned a report in the presence of nine pollutants at levels of concern in feeding young children, whose acrylamide.
A draft regulation on this matter is under discussion between the European Commission and Member States, and is subject to a vote in March. But “the proposal contains no binding limits (…) and keeps the contents of recommendations too high compared to what can be used by manufacturers” , consider the three organizations.
“The authorities need to adopt a new protocol that contains binding limits, beyond the existing limits, and industry take this issue very seriously, to take the necessary steps in the manufacturing process” , particularly those for children, called Véronique Moreira, President of WECF France, quoted in the statement.
