In 2002, Swedish National Food authorities surprisingly discovered high levels of the potential carcinogen, acrylamide, in many commonly consumed starch based foods processed or cooked at high temperatures. Examples of such foods include biscuits, crackers, snacks, French fries and crisp bread.
Acrylamide is classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” based on studies conducted in mice and rats by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)1. Studies carried out at the WHO, the FDA as well as other studies using food consumption data from several countries (Australia, Norway, The Netherlands, Sweden, USA) and data from the IARC EPIC study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) have estimated an acrylamide exposure of 0.3 to 0.8 μg/kg body weight per day 2, 3.
The potential risk posed to humans by this dietary exposure to acrylamide is not yet known, but numerous studies are currently in progress on an international level to collect the data needed to make an informed evaluation. In order to evaluate the potential risk, the differences in the cooking tradition and consumption patterns between countries and population subgroups as well as the wide variety of foods where acrylamide can be found have to be considered and evaluated4.
Footnotes
[1]: International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - Summaries & Evaluations, Acrylamide (Group 2A), Vol.: 60 (1994) (p. 389).
[2]: Report of a Joint FAO/WHO Consultation, WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland,
25-27 June 2002; Health Implications of Acrylamide in Food.
Report at FAO website; and report at the WHO website.
[3]: FDA: The 2006 Exposure Assessment for Acrylamide; July 2006.
[4]: Stadler, R.H., Scholz, G.: Acrylamide: An update on current knowledge in analysis levels found in food, mechanism of formation, and potential strategies of control; Lead review article; Nutrition Reviews, Vol. 62, No. 12, 2004.
