Safety tests for manufactured food have gone too far, requiring too many expensive tests for potential cancer-causing chemicals, according to food scientists.

"We are routinely measuring carcinogens in vegetable oils at trillionths of a gram," said Peter Berry Ottaway, the international liaison officer for the Institute for Food Science and Technology. "That's looking for one grain of sand in an extremely large beach. The cost is inevitably passed on to the consumer. I have my concerns as this area's building up. But it's a very brave person who tries to turn back the tide of food safety legislation."