Did you eat Kellog's cancer for breakfast?

My apologies for bringing this up early in the day when most people are just about to have their breakfast.

Now, I realize that most people I know here probably have friend rice or pandesal for breakfast, but there was a time when I only ate cereals for breakfast.  I grew up on the stuff and once in a while, I still get a craving for it.  When I do, I usually buy a box or two at the grocery and even in the middle of the day or afternoon, I'd eat half a bag before working out.  It's a guilty pleasure.

About two months ago, I got my usual cereal fix and failed to get to the gym.

The reason?  A sudden onset of diarrhea which I blamed on the milk I used with the cereal -- which I thought smelled a bit funny.

I thought nothing of it until a few days ago when I read this report from the Washington Post.

U.S. regulators lack data on health risks of most chemicals

By Lyndsey Layton

Washington Post Staff Writer 

Monday, August 2, 2010

This summer, when Kellogg recalled 28 million boxes of Froot Loops, Apple Jacks, Corn Pops and Honey Smacks, the company blamed elevated levels of a chemical in the packaging.

Dozens of consumers reported a strange taste and odor, and some complained of nausea and diarrhea. But Kellogg said a team of experts it hired determined that there was "no harmful material" in the products.

Federal regulators, who are charged with ensuring the safety of food and consumer products, are in the dark about the suspected chemical, 2-methylnaphthalene. The Food and Drug Administration has no scientific data on its impact on human health. The Environmental Protection Agency also lacks basic health and safety data for 2-methylnaphthalene -- even though the EPA has been seeking that information from the chemical industry for 16 years.

The cereal recall hints at a larger issue: huge gaps in the government's knowledge about chemicals in everyday consumer products, from furniture to clothing to children's products. Under current laws, the government has little or no information about the health risks posed by most of the 80,000 chemicals on the U.S. market today.

The disturbing part of this article is this:

 A natural component of crude oil, 2-methylnaphthalene is structurally related to naphthalene, an ingredient in mothballs and toilet-deodorant blocks that is considered a possible human carcinogen by the EPA. Kay Cooksey, a packaging expert at Clemson University, said 2-methylnaphthalene likely ended up in cereal because something went awry in the manufacturing of the foil-lined bags. The foil is attached to the paper bag with an adhesive that is heated, she said. If too much heat is applied or if the composition of the adhesive is incorrect, 2-methylnaphthalene could form, she said.

 Then it made sense!  It wasn't the milk that smelled bad, it was the cereals!