There are hidden dangers lurking in almost every aisle of the grocery store. Many of the foods we eat on a regular basis contain additives, ingredients or packaging that may make them dangerous to consume. Cancer-causing agents are some of the most common food dangers, with these six food items coming up as some of the more surprising foods you consume on a regular basis that have been linked to causing a wide variety of cancers, as well as other illnesses:

Alcohol

With all the research released about the benefits of drinking red wine, you may be surprised to learn that, next to tobacco use, alcohol is the second-leading cause of cancer in the United States, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). According to an American study that followed diet and lifestyle choices of more than 200,000 women over a period of 14 years, quoted on NaturalOn.com, postmenopausal women who drank at least one alcoholic beverage a day had almost a 30 percent increase in rates of breast cancer, as compared with women who are nondrinkers.

While social drinking can have some health benefits, including protecting against heart disease, chronic or excessive drinking has been linked to heart failure, stroke, liver disease and other health conditions. The National Cancer Institutes at the National Institutes of Health found that alcohol consumption is a major risk factor for several types of cancer, including the mouth, throat, larynx, esophageal cancer, breast cancers, liver and colorectal cancers.

Microwave Popcorn

Microwave popcorn has been linked to several health conditions, and in the past decade gained national media attention when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) linked several cases of bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) in workers at a popcorn plant. This serious, permanent condition, caused by the inhalation of diacetyl, the chemical that’s used to give popcorn a buttery taste, causes the air sacs in the lungs to be permanently and irreversibly scarred.


This isn’t the only dangerous chemical in microwave popcorn: the popcorn bag linings contain a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical also found in Teflon, which has been linked to infertility in women. According to the American Cancer Society, PFOA has also been linked to cancers of the kidney, bladder, liver, pancreas and testicles.

Canned Tomatoes

Canned tomatoes -- as well as other canned foods -- are packaged in a container that contains the chemical bisphenol-A, or BPA, which is a common structural component in plastic packaging. While the FDA has published findings that show that this chemical is still safe within certain levels for packaging that comes in contact with food, it has acknowledged that small amounts of the chemical may migrate into food. A 2013 study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences showed that BPA affects the way that genes function in the brains of rats.

While most canned goods are packaged in containers that use BPA, tomatoes get particular attention because they have high levels of acidity, which may cause BPA to leach into tomatoes from the can lining. Some experts advise cooking fresh tomatoes or buying sauces packaged in glass instead.

Farmed Salmon

While wild salmon is one of the healthiest foods you can eat, farmed salmon is an entirely different animal, so to speak. Farmed salmon are fed diets that mainly comprise chicken litter and contain countless chemicals, antibiotics, pesticides and other carcinogens. The pesticides are used to deal with the sea lice that attack farmed salmon at a rate 30 times higher than wild salmon because of their close living quarters. They are also fed diets that contain chemicals to add the reddish hue to their meat that occurs naturally in wild salmon, but which does not with farmed salmon, because of their substandard diet.


Studies have also shown that, in addition to lacking the nutritional value of wild Alaskan salmon, they are high in mercury, carcinogens and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. Unfortunately, the majority of salmon sold in United States supermarkets is farmed salmon, so if you’re craving this fish, make sure you’re buying wild-caught salmon, and if it isn’t available locally, you can order it online.

Processed White Flour

When we hear about white flour, we often think about the lack of nutrients as opposed to whole wheat. In fact, 14 vitamins, 10 minerals and protein value are lost in the process of refining the flour, and even enriched flour only has four vitamins added to it.

A more serious issue, however, is that mills aren’t waiting for their flour to whiten over time but are instead whitening their refined flour with chlorine gas. This gas, according to the EPA, is an irritant that’s not safe for inhalation. It is lethal in large quantities -- yet is used to process a product that’s present in many of our foods. Further, because of the high glycemic rate in processed flour, it is believed that this ingredient can help feed cancerous tumors, which feed on sugars in the bloodstream and helps spread cancer cells.

Diet Foods

Many diet foods, from sodas to prepackaged foods and frozen dishes, contain the chemical aspartame, which is an artificial sweetener. This chemical has been linked to countless health conditions, including cancer, birth defects and heart problems.

Instead, if you’re trying to diet, opt for fresh foods that are naturally low in calories and splurge on naturally rich items if you’re seeking a sweet fix -- in moderation, of course. In addition, aspartame accounts for more than “75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA,” according to Mercola.com. These reactions range from being mild to deadly. There is also some evidence linking aspartame to blood cancers, including leukemia and lymphoma, as well as some evidence to support a link to brain tumors.