Now baby food and biscuits are linked to cancer: Food watchdog issues alerts for 25 big brands after claiming that crunchy roast potatoes and toast could cause the disease

Tests on best-selling crisps, biscuits and baby food showed raised levels of a chemical linked to cancer.

The health alert comes just 24 hours after an official watchdog warned of the risks of eating burnt toast and roast potatoes. 

The latest products on the danger list include Kettle Chips, Burts crisps, Hovis, Fox’s biscuits, Kenco coffee, McVitie’s and products from Cow & Gate.

A number of big name brand products contain raised levels of acrylamide, a chemical linked to cancer, according to the Food Standards Agency

According to the Food Standards Agency, 25 products have raised levels of acrylamide. 

Animal studies suggest the chemical can trigger DNA mutations and cancer.

The link to acrylamide was also behind the warning over fried, roasted and toasted foods such as potatoes and bread.

The agency cautioned that any risk to humans related to lifetime consumption and not occasional eating. 

However a renowned statistician yesterday insisted the link to cancer in humans from acrylamide was extremely weak.

There is no good evidence of harm from humans consuming acrylamide in their diet,’ said Professor David Spiegelhalter.

 

The FSA and other watchdogs in Europe test supermarket food to assess whether acrylamide levels are above a suggested limit – IV, for indicative value.

Of 526 products in targeted tests in 2014 and 2015, 25 had raised levels. Although the agency is not advising consumers to stop eating the products, the manufacturers have been told to cut the levels.

The FSA said: ‘For all of these samples we followed up with the manufacturers or brand owners via local authority inspectors. 

'They alerted them to the findings and requested information about what is being done to control acrylamide in those products. 

'We would emphasise though that the indicative values are not legal maximum limits nor are they safety levels. 

'They are performance indicators and designed to promote best practice in controlling acrylamide levels.’

A Hovis granary loaf, pictured, is one of the products that has higher levels of the chemical, which has been known to cause DNA mutations in animals

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