Carcinogenicity of Food Mutagens and Risk Assessment

Human cancer is generally considered to be related to environmental factors. ¹ - ² Dietary factors, including carcinogens in the diet, seem to be very important in the development of cancers. ¹ ′ ³ Charred parts of broiled fish and beefsteak were first demonstrated in our laboratory to be mutagenic to Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100 with S9 mix. ⁴ - ⁵ Subsequently, a series of heterocyclic amines were isolated from pyrolysates of amino acids and proteins and were shown to be highly mutagenic. ^{6 – 9} These heterocyclic amines have also been shown to be carcinogenic in mice and rats. This chapter summarizes available data on the carcinogenicities of these heterocyclic amines.