Breakfast cereal, chips, and even baby food -- big corporations want to leave a dangerous substance in our food that European food safety authorities says could damage our DNA and increase the risk of cancer.

With basic measures, levels of the substance called acrylamide in our food can be dramatically reduced. But leaked EU legislation shows that corporate lobbyists are using a backroom committee procedure to prevent any real action. Under the proposal, acrylamide would be regulated through easily-ignored voluntary guidelines that won’t decrease the dangers at all. It’s a dream come true for the industry giants.

In the coming days, the European Commissioner for Health will consider the draft proposal. A public outcry across Europe for real, legal limits that protect people (not profits!) can still beat the lobbyists. But first, enough of us need to add our names to get his attention.

Tell the EU Commissioner for Health to ensure laws with legally-binding, maximum acrylamide limits, which ensures the food on our dinner tables is safe.

Acrylamide is a dangerous carcinogenic substance that is found in many foods that we eat every day: from potato crisps to toast, biscuits and even baby food. Last year’s scientific opinion from the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) warned that acrylamide is a public health concern, as “it potentially increases the risk of developing cancer in consumers of all ages”. Children and babies are particularly vulnerable.

The levels of carcinogenic acrylamide can be significantly limited, but this hasn’t been the case so far: despite the years of monitoring, the levels of acrylamide in food have not been going down. Even worse, a lot of food producers were not aware of this problem at all or were not willing to take any measures to reduce it.

And the draft laws aren't just meaningless. Worse than that: the recommended acrylamide levels are in many cases actually higher than current amounts found in food, and the laws block countries bringing in tougher rules. That’d be a huge win for irresponsible food giants.

A first decision on the draft proposal is just days away. Sign the petition to demand tougher laws on acrylamide in our food now.

Soft rules and self-regulation has been failing us for years. Now lobbyists paid by McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut have been pushing hard for weak guidelines. But SumOfUs members are just as good at standing up for consumers. Over 600,000 of us demanded the French government banned bee-killing pesticides, and it worked!

The EU can still toughen up the plans. Countries are debating the laws in two weeks’ time. So right now we’ve got a window to get proper, legal limits on acrylamide. We can do it together, but we’ve not got long to build the pressure.

The EU should back ordinary people, not big business. Sign the petition for tougher laws on acrylamide in our food now.

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