Are there any carcinogens in Starbucks?

Rumor:

A public account called "Australia Mirror" used emotionally charged words to spread the following shocking news: The Starbucks coffee you drink contains strong carcinogens , very scary! The California government requires coffee to be labeled as causing cancer and has sentenced Starbucks to death! The secret that Starbucks has been hiding for 8 years has finally been revealed! It's going to end!

Rumors refuted:

A judge in a court in Los Angeles, California, USA, ruled that 90 companies selling coffee, including Starbucks, must put labels on coffee products sold locally to warn of cancer risks. The claim that drinking coffee causes cancer is mainly due to the fact that coffee contains a carcinogen called acrylamide.

According to the classification of carcinogens published by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) on October 27, 2017, acrylamide belongs to Category 2A carcinogens. Studies have shown that acrylamide is neurotoxic to both humans and animals, and is also reproductively toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic to animals. There is sufficient evidence of acrylamide's carcinogenicity in experimental animals, but there is limited evidence of its carcinogenicity in humans.

Whether it is a factor that is beneficial to health or a factor that is harmful to health, there is a dose-effect relationship

. Even nutrients need to be taken in in moderation, not more is better.

Of course, the fewer harmful substances in food, the better. It is best to have no harmful substances in the food, but in reality it is difficult to achieve this.

Coffee contains carcinogens, and it cannot be concluded that coffee causes human cancer. Because whether a carcinogen can cause human cancer depends on many factors such as the dose, time, frequency of human exposure to the carcinogen, and its own resistance.

Rumor-refuting expert: Ma Guansheng, professor of the Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University

Review expert:

Wang Longde, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Chinese Preventive Medicine President of the Association

Liu Zhaofen, deputy director of the Science Information Department of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, researcher

Producer: Science China - Scientific Rumor Refutation