The World Health Organization reported that eating too much basil seed can cause liver cancer

In 1981 the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the World Food Organization and the World Health Organization confirmed that the estragole ingredient in basil seed directly causes liver cancer:

Estragole and its metabolites have been shown to be mutagenic in bacterial assays and to cause liver cancer in a rat. However, the available toxicity studies are not sufficient to give an ADI. The Committee recommends that a long-term study of the potential carcinogenicity of the substance be conducted before an ADI is established." (World Health Organization, 1981).

The oil of sweet basil (Minute Maid is the seed of this plant) contains 20-43% estragole. If you calculate at 30%, the safe intake of basil oil for a person weighing 50 kilograms should be no more than 8mg per day.

According to the Internet, the fat content of 10g of basil is 1.9g, which means that if you eat 10g of it a day, the intake of basil oil is 1.9g, which is equivalent to 1,900mg, which is more than 200 times higher than the EU's recommended standard.

But if you consume 10G of Minute Maid a day, you are consuming 1,900mg of carcinogens, more than 200 times the safety standard. Consequences 。。。。

In 2000, the European Union's Committee of Experts on Flavouring Substances (CEFS) concluded the following about Estragole:

The available data proves that estragole is a natural product that is genotoxic and carcinogenic to animals after prolonged exposure or repeated use in experiments. animals is genotoxic and carcinogenic.

In human experiments, 1'-Hydroxyestragole, a known carcinogen, was detected in urine samples at an intake dose of 1 μg/kg body weight (equivalent to normal human exposure).To more accurately determine the risk of estragole, it is recommended that rats and mice of different sexes be subjected to varying doses of estragole under Long-term observation. At the same time, a maximum intake of 0.05 mg/kg is recommended.