Perspectives on toxicological risk--an example: foodborne carcinogenic risk

Epidemiologists estimate that approximately one third of all cancer deaths can be attributed to diet. It is instructive to attempt to apportion this dietary carcinogenic risk to the specific classes of foodstuffs and food additives, pesticides, etc., that are typically regulated. When this is done it is evident that virtually all the calculated risk can be attributed to naturally occurring carcinogens in the diet. This article indicates that both epidemiological data and the simplest kind of risk assessment agree that foodborne carcinogenic risk probably overwhelmingly originates from the food itself and not from additives, pesticides, or contaminants.