Acrylamide is a toxic agent – a potent neurotoxin in fact which surprised many food analysts when it was first identified in foods a number of years ago. The chemical also poses a risk as a cancer causing agent. Having studied the problem of its production and the impact it can have on general health, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now issued its final guidance on the methods available to food manufacturers and the industry at large in particular to reducing the level of acrylamide in processed foods.
Acrylamide is a compound which forms when sugar and amino acid containing products are cooked, fried, roasted or baked. In other words, any high temperature food process can produce significant quantities of acrylamide when the precursors are available. Certain foods are more susceptible especially those containing potato like chips, fries and baked potatoes, whilst cereal rich foods and even coffee have been recorded to contain the compound.
The USA’s National Toxicology Program characterises acrylamide as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” as well as being an agent that affects brain health.
Acrylamide In Food
The general practice amongst processors to reduce acrylamide levels has focused on French fries where it’s feasible to cut fries into shapes with less surface area for exposure to heat and to alter their blanching techniques. Some processors have radically changed chip production by improving their potato peeling, increasing peel washing or soaking potato chips before frying, cutting out thinner chips, and reducing frying temperatures to 175°C (347°F) or below. Even different methods of frying exploiting pressure and using alternative oils have been examined with some success. We at home are now advised to stop storing potatoes in the refrigerator because the starch is converted to sugar which is one of the raw materials that can lead to its production.
Bread, biscuits, crackers, toasts and breakfast cereal including granola that are cooked from cereal crops such as wheat, oats, barley and corn are also being processed differently. Replacing ammonium bicarbonate in cookies and crackers with alternative leavening agents, while avoiding overall increases in sodium levels, may help reduce acrylamide. Replacing sugars with non-reducing sugars, using reducing sugars with lower fructose content and only adding sugar coatings to breakfast cereal after toasting steps also may help.
The FDA has not been able to establish all the factors known to affect acrylamide concentrations in coffee. Robusta beans have significantly higher acrylamide levels than arabica beans. Acrylamide levels in roasted coffee decline during long-term storage. Dark roasted coffee has lower acrylamide contents than the lighter roasted types. It is also feasible to exploit different preparation methods, by for example using espresso versus filter-brewing, which results in different levels of acrylamide in coffee when consumed.
In the United Kingdom, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) comments that:
“The Agency does not advise people to stop eating any of these foods, but you should follow Department of Health advice from the NHS Choices website on eating a healthy, balanced diet.
“We also recommend that, when making chips at home, they are cooked to a light golden colour.
“However, manufacturers’ instructions for frying or oven-heating foods should be followed carefully.”
More information relating to the guidance notes is obtained from the FDA’s web-site on the matter. Analytical techniques are being developed which rely on near infra-red spectroscopy.
Dead nasty stuff !