A recent study has shown that various food additive emulsifiers, including total carrageenans, carrageenan gum, tripotassium phosphate, sodium citrate, and guar gum, can increase the risk for Type 2 diabetes.
Food emulsifiers, which are extensively used to enhance the texture and improve the shelf life of various ultraprocessed food (UPF) items, have been previously shown to increase the risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer.
In this study, the dietary intake data of 104,139 adults enrolled in the French NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort study from May 2009 to April 2023 were assessed for 24 hours on three nonconsecutive days at inclusion and every six months thereafter to determine their risk for T2D. During a mean follow-up period of 6.8 years, 1,056 incident cases of T2D were reported. Almost all (99.7%) of the participants were exposed to at least one food additive emulsifier, with the main contributors being ultraprocessed fruits and vegetables (18.5%), cakes and biscuits (14.7%), and dairy products (10.0%).
The intake of the following emulsifiers increased the risk for T2D: Total carrageenans and carrageenan gum; Tripotassium phosphate; Acetyl tartaric acid esters of monoglycerides and diglycerides of fatty acids; Sodium citrate; Guar gum; Gum Arabic; Xanthan gum.
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