Reacción a "Two mixtures of food additives are associated with the development of type 2 diabetes"

This study analyses the association between the consumption of different combinations of additives used in the food industry and the risk of developing diabetes. The researchers examined the information of more than 100,000 people in France, who reported their usual consumption of processed foods, and from this they calculated the additives consumed. The main results are that combinations of additives found in broths and sauces, and combinations of sweetened drinks, both with artificial sweeteners and sugars, were associated with an increased risk of diabetes seven years after the start of the study.

This work is very relevant because it identifies specific combinations of food additives that have a harmful effect and that explain previous findings that associated the consumption of ultra-processed food with an increased risk of diabetes. The data comes from a population study, with real information on what the participants consume on a regular basis. This is an advantage because it examines foods that the population actually consumes and looks at their effect years after this consumption, which is assumed to be regular.

The limitations of this study have to do with the fact that it is possible that the participants changed their diet over the years of follow-up and this information has not been collected. The other limitation is that, as it is a population study, it cannot be assured that other factors that are also associated with the consumption of these additives may have a role in the development of diabetes and, therefore, the additives may not be the real cause of the disease.

The implications of the results are that it is possible that additives that have been approved as meeting safety criteria in accordance with food legislation, in certain combinations used to prepare processed foods, could be really harmful to health.