ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the status of risk assessment conducted on food additives and food contaminants which have been shown to produce cancers in rodents. With the objective of detecting causative principles for human cancers, a large number of chemicals have been tested for potential carcinogenicity in animals using the standard test protocol and result evaluation criteria proposed by the World Health Organization. Assessment of human cancer risk associated with any particular specified chemical exposure requires a complicated scientific procedure, starting with careful review of all pertinent information on the chemical, derived from experimental, epidemiological and/or clinical studies. The virtually safe dose is often used as a parameter for the assessment of human cancer risk associated with exposure to a potent carcinogen, such as aflatoxin B1, benzo(a) pyrene, or dimethyl-nitrosamine. Epidemiological studies suggest that diet is a major factor in the etiology of specific types of human cancer.
