GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCTION OF FOOD ADDITIVES AND OTHER CHEMICAL COMMODITIES WITH LEAST CARCINOGENIC POTENTIAL: A BIOCHEMICAL APPROACH1

Abstract

An attempt has been made, using a biochemical approach, to construct safety guidelines for synthesis and production of food additives and other chemical commodities with “least carcinogenic potential.” In general, chemical carcinogens exist as or are metabolically activated to reactive forms able to interact with biologically-important macromolecules, a process apparently directly related to carcinogenesis by chemicals. A working knowledge of the biochemistry of biologically-foreign compounds is therefore necessary to understand structure-activity relationships observed in chemical carcinogenesis, since it appears that carcinogenic activity can be a consequence of the structure of the chemically-reactive forms of a carcinogen rather than of the structure of the parent compound. Consequently, the biochemistry of foreign compounds, the metabolic activation of various chemical carcinogens, and the nature of the probable active forms of these carcinogens has been briefly reviewed. Utilization of this knowledge by investigators of chemical carcinogenesis has proved rather helpful in the discovery of new chemical carcinogens. By eliminating from consideration those chemical with carcinogenic potential, there is no reason why this knowledge cannot be successfully utilized as an aid in the discovery of non-carcinogenic chemicals suitable for use as food additives or other chemical commodities.