Basic research for evaluating caroigenic potential of foods and sugar substitutes.

3年来，我们一直在研究如何评估食品和材料的致癌性，以便进行良好的加工。我们得出了以下结论：区分食品致癌性评价与食品加工材料评价是十分重要和必要的。我们有理由接受1986年圣安东尼奥共识会议关于消极控制和积极控制的定义。蔗糖是阳性对照，山梨醇是阴性对照。通过留置电极法使菌斑pH值不低于5.7，则判定该食品为无龋食品。不产酸的食物应该是不致癌的。另一方面，所有pH值低于5.7的食物都不应被视为龋齿。这种误导应该避免。如果一种食物使牙菌斑的pH值低于5.0，那么这种食物似乎不值得用其他方法来评估其龋齿性。这种食物几乎没有机会被评估为无蛀牙，甚至是低蛀牙。如果一种食物使牙菌斑的pH值在5.7到5.0或5.2之间，那么这种食物似乎值得通过动物实验和口腔内蛀牙试验来检验其低蛀牙性。一项检测牙菌斑中微生物是否能够发酵代糖的试验，为我们了解牙菌斑中的微生物是否有可能适应这种代糖提供了有用的信息。用动物实验来评价食物对人类的致癌性有很多困难。

We have investigated for 3 years how we should evaluate cariogenicity of foods and materials for good processing. We reached the conclusions as follows :1.It is important and essential to distinguish the evaluation of cariogenicity of foods from the evaluation of the materials for food processing.2.It is reasonable to accept the definition at the San Antonio Consensus Conference in 1986 about the negative and the positive controls. These are sucrose as the positive and sorbitol as the negative control.3.If a food does not drop plaque pH no less than 5.7by indwelling electrode method, this food could be concluded as noncariogenic. Non-acidogenic food should be noncariogenic.4.On the other hand all the foods drop the pH less than 5.7 should not be considered cariogenic. This kind of misleading should be avoided.5.If a food drops plaque pH less than 5.0, this food does not seem worth evaluating its cariogenicity by other methods. This food may have little chance to be evaluated noncariogenic, or even low cariogenic.6.If a food drops plaque pH between 5.7 an 5.0 or 5.2, this food seems to be worth testing for its low cariogenicity by animal experiments and intraoral cariogenicity tests.7.A test to find out the microorganisms in dental plaque to be able to ferment a sugar substitute gives us a useful information to find out if microorganisms in dental plaque have a possibility to adapt to this sugar substitute.8.There are many difficulties to use animal experiments for evaluating cariogenicity of a food for human.