Acrylamide
When a natural chemical reaction occurs between asparagine – an amino acid and sugars especially in plant based foods like potatoes, and cereal based grains - a substance called acrylamide is formed. This substance is formed during high-temperature cooking methods like roasting, baking and frying.
The major food sources of acrylamide include
- French fries and potato chips
- Crackers
- Bread and cookies
- Breakfast cereals
- Canned black olives, prune juice
- Coffee.
The National Toxicology Programs Report on Carcinogens suggests that acrylamide can be a possible human carcinogen. Studies of workplace exposure have shown that high levels of occupational acrylamide exposure through inhalation can cause neurological damage and have not predicted increased risks of cancer.
Regulations:
The US FDA – United States Food and Drug Administration monitors levels of acrylamide in relevant foods because of its ability to affect human health. The EU also has set Indicative Values for acrylamide in certain foodstuffs, which are still complemented by German Signal Values.
Detection Limits:
So far, there are no official maximum levels for acrylamide in food. Minimizing concepts are in place which pursues the step-by-step reduction of acrylamide levels following the “As Low as Reasonably Achievable” (ALARA) principle.
Eurofins made sure that their team is completely involved in the analysis of acrylamide by meeting all the requirements of the EU 2017/2158 regulation. In the process, they established reliable LC-MS/MS methods to analyze the contaminant in relevant food groups.
Advantages of the method used:
- Fast turnaround on results
- Improved sensitivity
- Accurate results with less matrix interferences
- Applicability to a wide range of food products
