The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Evidence-Based Review for Qualified Health Claims: Tomatoes, Lycopene, and Cancer

Abstract

Several studies have reported an inverse association between tomato and/or lycopene intake and the risk of some types of cancer. In 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received two petitions for qualified health claims regarding tomatoes, lycopene, and the risk reduction for some forms of cancer. Health claims that characterize the relationship between a food or food component and a disease or health-related condition require premarket approval by FDA to be included on the labels of conventional foods and dietary supplements. Here we describe FDA's review of the scientific data for tomato and/or lycopene intake with respect to risk reduction for certain forms of cancer. The FDA found no credible evidence to support an association between lycopene intake and a reduced risk of prostate, lung, colorectal, gastric, breast, ovarian, endometrial, or pancreatic cancer. The FDA also found no credible evidence for an association between tomato consumption and a reduced risk of lung, colorectal, breast, cervical, or endometrial cancer. The FDA found very limited evidence to support an association between tomato consumption and reduced risks of prostate, ovarian, gastric, and pancreatic cancers.

Quality of low-fat pork sausages with tomato powder as colour and functional additive during refrigerated storage

“…Tomato and tomato products are the major sources of lycopene and are considered to be important contributors of carotenoids in human diet (Tapiero et al 2004;Goula and Adamopoulos 2005). They are rich in lycopene and other carotenoids such as β-carotene, phytoene, phytofluene and lutein (Choski and Joshi 2007;Kavanaugh et al 2007). The ability of lycopene to act as a potent antioxidant is thought to be responsible for protecting cells against oxidative damage and thereby decreasing the risk of chronic diseases (Omoni and Aluko 2005;Kavanaugh et al 2007).…”

“…They are rich in lycopene and other carotenoids such as β-carotene, phytoene, phytofluene and lutein (Choski and Joshi 2007;Kavanaugh et al 2007). The ability of lycopene to act as a potent antioxidant is thought to be responsible for protecting cells against oxidative damage and thereby decreasing the risk of chronic diseases (Omoni and Aluko 2005;Kavanaugh et al 2007). …”

The Use of Tomato Powder Fermented with Pediococcus pentosaceus and Lactobacillus sakei for the Ready-to-Cook Minced Meat Product Quality Improvement

“…Considering the colour properties of tomato products and the benefi cial eff ects on human health (26)(27)(28), their addition to meat products could reduce the necessity of adding synthetic colourants and yield products with a bett er nutritional profi le due to the higher content of plant-derived bioactive compounds (lycopene and phenolic compounds) (29). The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committ ee on Food Additives (JECFA) agreed that lycopene (both natural and synthetic) is acceptable as a food colourant and established a group acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 0-0.5 mg of both preparations per kg of body mass per day (30).…”

Impact of socio-cultural and economic factors on vegetable consumption behaviours: case of Giresun province, Turkey

“…It is indicated that over time this type of diet may cause cancer and chronic diseases in humans. It is stated that in these cases, the regular consumption of vegetables is highly beneficial to health and effective in reducing the risk of heart diseases, cancers, and chronic diseases (Robertson et al, 2004;Dauchet et al, 2006;He et al, 2006He et al, , 2007Kavanaugh et al, 2007;Dauchet et al, 2009;Hardin et al, 2011). Owing to their low calories and fat content, and high contents of fibre, antioxidants, carotenoids, flavonoids, vitamins and photochemical substances, vegetables are remarkable in terms of health effects (Marowa-Wilkerson et al, 2007).…”