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Thinking about reaching for another bowl of your favorite cereal? Think again!
According to a new study just published in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, more than 40 percent of cereal could contain ochratoxin A (OTA), a potentially cancer-causing byproduct of mold.
Yikes!
Researchers tested 489 samples of 114 corn-, rice-, wheat- and oat-based breakfast cereals for OTA and found that 205 of the samples were contaminated--that's a lot of contaminated cereal.
In their findings, over 70 percent of the oat-based cereals were contaminated, while 32 percent of wheat-based, 15 percent of percent of corn-based, and 15 percent of rice-based cereals were contaminated.
In an even more disturbing twist, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate OTA in our food--that means, they aren't required to take the cereals off the shelves, nor are they likely to change their guidelines.
The European Union, on the other hand, does regulate OTA. They found that 16 samples violated their guidelines because they had unsafe levels of OTA.
OTA can have some serious side effects. Research shows that it could lead to kidney disease, breast and kidney tumors, and DNA damage. More research is needed to figure out more about the potential harm it can do, but it is considered a carcinogenic (meaning that it can cause cancer).
While one bowl of cereal certainly won't kill you, researchers are worried that the accumulation of OTA through multiple food sources, like cereal, wine, dried fruit, and pork, will accumulate and cause some serious damage.
Since there are no guidelines nor regulations for OTA, it's pretty hard to avoid it. The best you can do it cut back on cereal until more research is done.
What do you think about this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Photo Copyright © 2008 Barb Watson
