BABY food made by popular brand Cow & Gate has been shown to contain a high level of a chemical linked to cancer.
Acrylamide is a chemical created when starchy food is burnt or cooked for a long time at a high temperature.
Scientists have warned the public to cut down on foods that contain the chemical - including Cow & Gate Sunny Start baby wheat flakes and the brand’s Little Steamed Meals in spaghetti bolognese.
Organix baby food has also been pointed to as having too high a level of the cancer causing chemical.
Baby foods with high levels of the cancer-causing chemical:
Cow & Gate: Little steamed meals spaghetti bolognese – 60 micrograms per KG
Cow & Gate: Baby wheat flakes – 577 micrograms per KG
Organix Finger Foods: Organic apple rice cakes – 165 micrograms per KG
Organix Finger Foods: Organic animal biscuits – 103 micrograms per KG
Organix Finger Foods: Organic baby biscuits – 50 micrograms per KG
Organix Finger Foods: Organic gingerbread men – 62 micrograms per KG
Cow & Gate discontinued its baby wheat flakes in 2015.
Baby food must have no more than 50 micrograms per KG of acrylamide.
Organix told Express.co.uk: “At Organix the safety and health of our customers is our top priority and we would like to reassure customers that there is no cause for concern.
“We only use processes and ingredients that minimise the presence of acrylamide in our foods. We have a substantial testing regime in place which covers tests on acrylamide. All testing on our foods have shown results to comply with proposed legislation and give no cause for concern to us or governing bodies.
“There is no formal legislation in place for maximum levels of acrylamide in the UK, although not a legal standard the EFSA (European Food safety Authority) has an benchmark level at 200 micrograms per KG for infant biscuits and rusks as an indicative/limit. Organix meets this low limit across its foods.”
Other foods in the firing line are roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips, crisps, some freeze dried instant coffee, biscuits, cereals and bread.
A list of 25 products to avoid was released by the Food Standards Agency, who launched their campaign to raise awareness about the dangerous chemical.
Carbohydrates must be cooked until “golden” and not more than instructions given on any packaging.
Cow & Gate told Express.co.uk: ""We take food safety extremely seriously and have been working hard to reduce acrylamide levels.
"We would like make it clear that Sunny Start Baby Wheat Flakes is a discontinued product which has not been on sale since 2015, as we were unable to reduce levels sufficiently. We feel it is important to reassure parents about this, in light of the recent FSA report and some media stories about the report’s findings.
"We were reassured that the majority of Cow & Gate baby foods tested were below the indicative level. One sample of Spaghetti Bolognese shows an elevated level but this is still close to the indicative level. We are investigating this but anticipate it is a one-off result."
The statement said a spaghetti bolognese failure was expected to be a “one-off result”.
The link between the chemical and cancer has so far only been confirmed in mice.
Thousands of women are putting themselves at risk by not attending regular cervical cancer check-ups - with a quarter saying they are too embarrassed to attend.
Experts found embarrassment was one of the major factors preventing young women from attending a test that could save their life, with quarter - 25 per cent - of people admitting to feeling uncomfortable taking off their clothes in front of a stranger.
Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that develops in a woman's cervix, which is the entrance to the womb from the vagina.
Figures revealed by Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust found almost a quarter of a million women aged 25 to 29 did not attend their smear test in England last year.
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/758414/baby-food-cancer-link
