There may be cancer in your breakfast cereal

Lab tests of a breakfast cereal that is supposed to boost heart health has unveiled a toxic secret: It may be contaminated with a mold that has been connected with kidney cancer.

Oats and oat cereal have been promoted as healthy foods because they allegedly protect the cardiovascular system. But researchers at the University of Idaho warn that more attention needs to be paid to the possibility of that oat-based breakfast cereals are frequently contaminated with a dangerous mold.

An analysis of oat cereals being sold in the U.S. show they often contain a mold toxin known as ochratoxin A (OTA).

Lab tests have indicated that OTA may cause kidney cancer.

The scientists point out that OTA is one of the most commonly found mold toxins in the world. Other studies have indicated that the toxin sometimes may be found in dried fruit, pork, coffee, wine, coffee and other foods. While it isn’t clear what kind of impact OTA causes for human health, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a section of the World Health Organization (WHO), classifies this substance as a potential human carcinogen. Lab animals that have been exposed to OTA are prone to developing kidney tumors.

Interestingly, the European Union enforces maximum limits of OTA in food. But the U.S. regulatory agencies do not measure or regulate the toxin.

For the Idaho study, researchers checked about 500 samples of oat-, wheat-, corn- and rice-based breakfast cereals sold in the U.S. While most of the samples were found to have OTA levels that were below the European standard, 8 percent of the oat-based cereals were over that level.

The researchers conclude that to shrink OTA levels in oats, we need “surveillance programs and development of intervention strategies to reduce health risks in consumers.”