Eating a small amount of burnt chapati regularly causes cancer.

fact_checkWhat experts say

• infoSome starchy foods, such as bread, potato chips and cereals, make acrylamide when cooked at very high heat. It is not known whether chapati or other foods eaten in India also do this.1
• infoAcrylamide has caused cancer in laboratory animals. But whether it causes cancer in people is not known.1
• infoNo one can say yet how much cancer risk the acrylamide in food carries for people. The ways of guessing this are not reliable enough.1
• infoThe amount of acrylamide people get from food, cigarette smoke and other places is far below the amount known to cause nerve damage in laboratory animals.1
• infoAcrylamide also reaches the body from cigarette smoke. So burnt food is not the only place it comes from.1

lightbulbWhy people believe it

People hear that burnt food has a chemical that caused cancer in animals. So it feels as if even a small piece of burnt chapati must cause cancer in people.

checklistWhat to do

• check_circleDo not make big changes to your meals only because of this claim. There is no proof that burnt chapati causes cancer in people.12
• check_circleIf you smoke, quitting or staying away from cigarette smoke lowers one more source of acrylamide in the body.1
• check_circleDo not treat this claim as proven. Scientists are still finding out how acrylamide affects people.12

menu_bookSources

1. 1Additional Research on Acrylamide in Food essential, Scientists declarewho.intopen_in_new
2. 2Health implications of acrylamide in foodwho.intopen_in_new

Updated 28 Sep 2026