consumption of certain emulsifying food additives may be associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a study

Emulsifiers are in the sights of researchers for their links to the development of diabetes. This is the result of a new study published on Wednesday.

Consumption of certain emulsifying food additives “would be associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes”, according to a study, carried out by researchers, notably from Inserm, Inrae, Paris Cité University and Cnam, published Wednesday April 24, in the journal Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

They analyzed health data from 104,139 adults participating in the NutriNet-Santé cohort study. The average age of these 104,139 adults is 43 years, 79% of whom are women. Scientists have studied “the possible links between dietary intake habits of emulsifying additives and the occurrence of type 2 diabetes between 2009 and 2023”. During follow-up, participants declared the occurrence of diabetes (1,056 diagnosed cases), and the declarations were validated using a multi-source strategy (including declaration and reimbursement of antidiabetic drugs).

Pastries, desserts, yogurts, margarines and prepared meals

This is the first time that French researchers at the international level have taken an interest in “the relationships between dietary intake of emulsifiers, cumulative over a maximum follow-up of 14 years, and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in a large study in the general population”, underlines Inserm. In Europe and North America, 30 to 60% of adults’ dietary energy intake comes from ultra-processed foods while more and more epidemiological studies suggest a link between high consumption of ultra-processed foods and increased risk diabetes and other metabolic disorders.

Emulsifiers are among the additives most frequently used by the food industry. Their use aims to improve the texture of products while extending their shelf life. They are often added to processed and packaged industrial foods such as certain pastries, cakes and desserts, yogurts, ice creams, chocolate bars, industrial breads, rusks, margarines and prepared meals. These additives are found in the list of ingredients on packaging, carrageenan, tripotassium phosphate, guar gum, sodium citrate, names sometimes replaced by their acronym E407, E340, E412 or E331.

Participants recorded online all foods and drinks consumed and their brand (for industrial products), over at least two days of food recording. They were regularly re-questioned about their food consumption, every 6 months over 14 years. These records were linked to databases in order to identify the presence and dose of food additives (including emulsifiers) in the products consumed. Laboratory assays were also performed to provide quantitative data. This made it possible to calculate chronic exposure over time to these emulsifiers. Note that according to other previous studies, emulsifiers are suspected of increasing cardiovascular risks and certain cancers.