Taiwanese doctors called for the public to remain calm while responding to reporters’ questions on a ruling by a Los Angeles judge that Starbucks Corp and other coffee sellers must now put cancer warnings on coffee sold in California.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle on Wednesday said that Starbucks and other companies had failed to show there was no significant risk from a carcinogen produced in the coffee roasting process, court documents showed.
The culprit is a chemical produced in the bean roasting process that is a known carcinogen and has been at the heart of an eight-year legal struggle between a tiny nonprofit group and big coffee companies.
The Council for Education and Research on Toxics wanted the coffee industry to disclose the danger with warning labels.
The coffee industry, led by Starbucks Corp, said the level of the chemical in coffee is not harmful and any risks are outweighed by the benefits.
Starbucks and the other defendants have until April 10 to file an objection.
Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital toxicologist Yan Tsung-hai (顏宗海) on Friday said that although the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified acrylamide as a class 2A substance — probably carcinogenic to humans — there is not sufficient evidence that the substance increases the risk of cancer in humans.
The public should remain calm and not panic, he said.
Acrylamide is present not only in coffee beans, but also in french fries, hash browns, chips and cigarettes, Yan said.
An acceptable daily intake of acrylamide is 2.6mg per kilogram of body weight, Yan said, adding that an adult weighing 60kg should ingest less than 156mg per day.
However, as acrylamide is a byproduct of cooking, it is difficult to measure the amount a person ingests per day, Yan said.
Acrylamide is the product of a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars in food, which is called the Maillard reaction, and only occurs when the food is heated at more than 120°C, Yan said.
Even if coffee contains acrylamide, research has proven that coffee consumption helps lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, he said.
As one 150ml cup of drip coffee contains 110mg of caffeine, a 60kg adult male should not drink more than three cups a day, while a 50kg female should not drink more than two, Yan said.
Consuming too much coffee can cause heart palpitations, increased blood pressure and an increased heart rate, Yan said.
Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Division Director Lee Wan-chen (李婉媜) said the California ruling is the only one of its kind in the world.
She said eating less deep-fried or baked foods, sticking to a balanced diet and exercising regularly, is the key to good health.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS