CancerMail from the National Cancer Institute

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 *                                CANCER FACTS                                *
 *                          National Cancer Institute                         *
 *                        National Institutes of Health                       *
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Food Additives



Food additives are chemicals that help preserve, color, and flavor food. 
Preservation is essential because food grown in one part of the world is often
shipped to consumers thousands of miles away and eaten weeks or months after
being packaged.

Nearly 15,000 substances are added to the foods we eat during their growth,
processing, and packaging.  These additives are subjected to extremely careful
laboratory screening before they are used, and scientists believe it is
unlikely that they contribute significantly to the overall cancer risk in
humans.  Information about food additives is available from:

==============================================================================
         U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and
          Applied Nutrition
         Direct Additives Branch
         200 C Street SW
         Washington, DC 20204
==============================================================================

The telephone number is 202-205-4314.  For further information, you can visit
the Food and Drug Administration at http://www.fda.gov on the Internet.


This fact sheet was reviewed on 4/16/99


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National Cancer Institute Information Resources

You may want more information for yourself, your family, and your doctor.  The
following National Cancer Institute (NCI) services are available to help you.


Telephone... 

Cancer Information Service (CIS)
Provides accurate, up-to-date information on cancer to patients and their
families, health professionals, and the general public.  Information
specialists translate the latest scientific information into understandable
language and respond in English, Spanish, or on TTY
equipment.
     Toll-free: 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237)
     TTY: 1-800-332-8615


Internet...

These web sites may be useful:
http://www.nci.nih.gov - NCI's primary web site; contains information about
the Institute and its programs.

http://cancernet.nci.nih.gov - CancerNet; contains material for health
professionals, patients, and the public, including information from PDQ  about
cancer treatment, screening, prevention, genetics, supportive care, and
clinical trials, and CANCERLIT, a bibliographic database. 

http://cancertrials.nci.nih.gov - cancerTrials; NCI's comprehensive clinical
trials information center for patients, health professionals, and the public.
Includes information on understanding trials, deciding whether to participate
in trials, finding specific trials, plus research news and other resources.


E-mail... 

CancerMail 
Includes NCI information about cancer treatment, screening, prevention,
genetics, and supportive care. To obtain a contents list, send e-mail to
cancermail@icicc.nci.nih.gov with the word "help" in the body of the message.


Fax... 

CancerFax 
Includes NCI information about cancer treatment, screening, prevention,
genetics, and supportive care.  To obtain a contents list, dial 301-402-5874
or 1-800-624-2511 from a touch-tone telephone or fax machine hand set and
follow the recorded instructions.




Date Last Modified: 04/1999
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