The next time you opt¹ for canned foods such as corn, tuna, asparagus or chicken, think twice. They may contain zinc² oxide³ that can potentially damage your digestive system, warn researchers.

 

下次你选择吃罐装食品，比如玉米罐头、金枪鱼罐头、芦笋罐头或者鸡肉罐头之前，要三思而行。研究人员提醒说，这些罐装食品中含有的氧化锌可能会损害你的消化系统。

 

The findings showed that nanoparticles of zinc oxide present in the lining⁴ of certain canned goods, usually considered good for its antimicrobial properties and preventing staining of sulfur-producing foods, may negatively affect the way in which human digestive tract⁵ operates.

 

"We found that zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles at doses that are relevant to what you might normally eat in a meal or a day can change the way that your intestine⁶ absorbs nutrients⁸ or your intestinal⁹ cell gene¹⁰ and protein expression," said Gretchen Mahler, Associate Professor at the Binghamton University in the New York.

 

Researchers found that canned food contained 100 times the daily dietary allowance of zinc.

 

"They tend to settle onto the cells representing the gastrointestinal tract and cause remodelling¹¹ or loss of the microvilli, which are tiny projections¹² on the surface of the intestinal absorptive cells that help to increase the surface area available for absorption," Mahler added.

 

This loss of surface area tends to result in a decrease in nutrient⁷ absorption.

 

Some of the nanoparticles also cause pro-inflammatory signaling at high doses, and this can increase the permeability of the intestinal model, the researcher said.

 

In other words, it can even allow the passage of compounds that are not supposed to pass through into the bloodstream.

 

The study, published in the journal Food & Function, looked at how many particles might be transferred into the canned food.

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