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It has been estimated that 60 percent of all cancer in women and 40 percent in men are associated with
environmental factors. Of that factor, food supply is one of the most important. Recently, concern has been mounting that
food additives of various types may be contributing the rising incidence of certain types of cancer. Such to commonly added
materials as saccharin, red dye number two, and nitrites have all been implicated. In addition, there is mounting evidence
that substances which "contaminate" our food supply, such as pesticide residues or industrial waste products, are
also increasing the risk of certain cancers. Even radioactive materials, such as iodine 131 or strontium 90, turn up from
time to time in our food supply.
Such data, important as it is , should not allowed to detract from another aspect of
the problem of diet and cancer--that there is a strong association between the kinds of food we eat and the increasing incidence
of specific types of cancer. This which may be more difficult to deal with since it defies regulation, cannot be laid at the
feet of any one product or group of manufacturers. ( Most food of today are so processed that it is hard to tell which ones
are the major cause of cancer.) The air, the water and the land is polluted with poison chemicals of all kinds, called additives.
The evidence comes both from studies of large human populations (which are growing very ill from the food they eat) and
from experiments on animals.
to deal with since it defies regulation, cannot be laid at the feet of any one product or
group of manufacturers. ( Most food of today are so processed that it is hard to tell which ones are the major cause of cancer.)
The air, the water and the land is polluted with poison chemicals of all kinds, called additives.
The evidence comes
both from studies of large human populations (which are growing very ill from the food they eat) and from experiments on animals.
The best data has been collected with two extremely common types of cancer--those of the breast and colon. Breast Cancer: Cancer of the breast is the most common cancer striking American woman
and a leading cause of death in the United States. In other countries however, the incidence of breast cancer is much lower.
If we list countries in the order of their incidence of breast cancer, an important generalization with certain specific exceptions
can be made. The ;more highly developed the country, the higher the incidence of breast cancer. More careful scrutiny of data
taken form the American Cancer Society, gives us certain clues as to what it is about "modern living" which contributes
to this problem,as certain westernized countries, for example, Japan, do not show this high incidence of breast cancer.
By contrast, when Japanese people migrate to California, their children have th same incidence of this cancer as other Californians
if the adopt a western eating pattern. If on the other hand, they continue to eat as their parents did in Japan, relatively
few have cancer of the breast. Thus, it is something about the food we eat which contributes to the high incidence of the
disease.
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