The Consumers' Foundation in china calls for regulations on aluminum levels in food

The Consumers' Foundation (CF) has urged health authorities to regulate the levels of aluminum in food after finding the metal in almost half of the food samples it tested recently

Currently there are no regulations governing the levels of aluminum allowed in food, despite the belief that long-term consumption of the metal may damage one's brain, the foundation said, as it released the results of its tests.

Health authorities responded to the CF's call by saying that regulations may be introduced later this year.

Of the 32 items — including pastries, potato chips and baking powders — that the CF tested, 14 were found to contain aluminum, with amounts ranging from 50 parts per million to 5,000 ppm.

The item that contained 5,000 ppm of aluminum was a baking powder collected from a store in Banqiao, New Taipei, the CF said.

Many cakes tested contained 100 ppm to 200 ppm of aluminum, and some popular potato chips from famous brands also contained the metal, the CF said.

The aluminum probably came from the baking powder used to make them, the foundation said.

The CF said it did similar tests in 2011 and 2012 on donuts, soybean milks and other traditional Chinese foods, finding that many of the items contained 30 ppm to 600 ppm of aluminum.

China Regulates Aluminum Levels, but Taiwan Doesn't

The consumer watchdog group said it has been calling on the government to introduce regulations governing the levels of aluminum allowed in food, but such regulations have yet to be made.

The CF added that such regulations are already in place in China. China has different permissible aluminum levels for different food categories, but the maximum level is set at 100ppm, the CF said.

The consumer rights group claimed that long-term consumption of aluminum can damage one's brain, causing neurological problems and memory loss.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), maintaining that no definite links have been established between aluminum and Alzheimer's disease, said it already started asking food makers to use aluminum-free or low-aluminum food materials last year.

The FDA also noted that it is already drafting regulations to govern the use of aluminum-containing baking powder, and the draft may be unveiled later this year.

The United Evening News said the permissible level of aluminum in food varies from country to country. In the United States and Japan, there is no regulation concerning aluminum levels.