A large French study found a link between food additives called emulsifiers and an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Emulsifiers are used to keep oils and water together to prolong the shelf life of processed foods, says MedPage Today.

Emulsifiers are used in mayonnaise, margarine, ice cream, salad dressings, peanut butter and other nut butters, cookies, sauces, baked goods, and many other prepackaged and processed foods.

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The study, published in The BMJ, analyzed the role of emulsifiers, which are some of the most consumed food additives and include starches, lecithin, xanthan gum, and pectin. It is estimated that over half of industrially processed foods contain at least one emulsifier.

While processed foods in general have been linked to higher risks of obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer and overall mortality, the study author Bernard Srour and his colleagues at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité found that the role of emulsifiers themselves used in processed foods did impact the risk of developing CVD. While the researchers did not find a cause-and effect relationship between emulsifiers and CVD, the scientists said their investigation warranted stricter food laws to protect consumers.

“Despite the moderate magnitude of the associations, these findings may have important public health implications given that these food additives are used ubiquitously in thousands of widely consumed ultra-processed food products,” they wrote. “Meanwhile, several public health authorities recommend limiting the consumption of ultra-processed foods as a way of limiting exposure to non-essential controversial food additives.”

The prospective study was based on the French NutriNet-Santé cohort with data spanning from 2009 to 2021. It included more than 95,000 adults without baseline CVD, mostly women, with an average age of 43.1 years. After seven years, the researchers noted higher risk of coronary heart disease with several types of emulsifiers, says News-Medical.Net.

The limitations of the study included the fact most of the participants, 79%, were women and the group was highly educated. Another obstacle was that the researchers were unable to account for emulsifiers in non-labeled foods such as bakery items that the study subjects could not measure and report.

The authors stressed that their results need replication in other large-scale studies but said they could “contribute to the re-evaluations of regulations around food additive usage in the food industry to protect consumers.”