The most important sources of acrylamide for adults include coffee, casseroles containing starch (potato or pasta) as well as rye bread, and for children casseroles, cookies, crisps and other baked potatoes. This is due to the high amounts in which they are consumed.
The major food sources of acrylamide are French fries and potato chips; crackers, bread, and cookies; breakfast cereals; canned black olives; prune juice; and coffee. Acrylamide levels in food vary widely depending on the manufacturer, the cooking time, and the method and temperature of the cooking process (5, 6).
It's most likely to be found in grains, potatoes or coffee heated to high temperatures. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cites these food sources as having the highest levels of acrylamide when heated to high temperatures: French fries.
The contents of acrylamide in breads ranged from below the limit of quantification to 695 μg kg−1 and the mean acrylamide content was 225 μg kg−1. The highest mean level of acrylamide was detected in whole wheat bread.
As mentioned, when starchy, carbohydrate-based foods such as potatoes, wheat, rice and other grains are heated above 120 °C (by frying, baking, roasting or toasting, for example), the naturally occurring amino acid asparagine reacts with sugars to form acrylamide.
The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) has classified acrylamide as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.” The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies acrylamide as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”
Acrylamide is found mainly in foods made from plants, such as potato products, grain products, or coffee. Acrylamide does not form, or forms at lower levels, in dairy, meat, and fish products.
The formation of acrylamide in both banana varieties was enhanced with an increase in both reducing sugars (glucose and fructose). This research demonstrated that the formation of acrylamide was strongly dependent on the concentration of, both glucose and fructose.
This is the name of the process that produces the classic, burnished, dark, rich, sweet and delicious crust. It gives a sourdough loaf its beautiful colour, flavour and texture. However, the Maillard reaction also produces acrylamide and laboratory studies have shown acrylamide to be a potential carcinogen.
The higher the temperature of stir-or deep-frying and the longer the cooking time, the higher the concentration of acrylamide. Avoid scorching of potatoes and vegetables as much as possible when frying. Stop toasting slices of bread when the color of bread is still golden yellow.
Tests with antioxidants
Even rosemary in small quantities – in one per cent of the dough – was enough to reduce the acrylamide content significantly. Flavonoids are another type of antioxidant found, among other things, in vegetables, chocolate and tea.
Breakfast cereals – cornflakes and all-bran flakes are the worst offenders, while porridge oats contain no acrylamide at all. Biscuits and crackers – if baking at home, follow recipes that cook at a relatively low temperature. Also make the finished product as light in colour as possible (without it being raw!).
Acrylamide forms from sugars and an amino acid that are naturally present in food. It does not form, or forms at lower levels, in dairy, meat and fish products.
Use the lowest oven temperature possible for the food. Baking foods to a golden yellow, or lighter colour, and at lower oven temperatures will reduce acrylamide levels. When cooking foods such as toast and toasted sandwiches do not over-toast or burn.
High levels of acrylamide were found in these food items: up to 327 µg/kg for sweet potato baked at 190 °C for 14 min, and 99 µg/kg for carrot baked at 190 °C for 13 min.
All types of coffee containing roasted beans contain some acrylamide. Coffee substitutes, such as cereal and chicory root coffees, also contain acrylamide if they have undergone a roasting process. The only type of coffee that does not contain acrylamide is that which contains unroasted, or green, coffee beans.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration monitors acrylamide levels in certain foods, and amounts in peanuts and peanut products are low or undetectable. If present, acrylamide naturally forms when peanuts are roasted; it is not added to peanut butter by manufacturers.
Frying spinach produces 112 micrograms per kilogram, and fried beetroot produces one of the highest levels - 890. Leif Busk, the head of research at Sweden's National Food Administration, says it is clear that the crucial factors in the formation of acrylamide are heat and time.
The different categories of tea (e.g., black, oolong, green, and Pu-erh) are the result of variations in the process after the leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis are harvested. Acrylamide, a potentially carcinogenic substance, was detected in tea and has resulted in serious public concern.
Histopathological evidence of acrylamide-induced peripheral neuropathy has been observed in rats receiving oral doses as low as 1 mg/kg/day for 3 months; the observed degenerative effects in peripheral nerve fibers at such dose levels have been shown to be completely reversible within a few months following the ...
Once in your body, acrylamide enters your body fluids. Acrylamide and its breakdown products leave your body mostly through urine; small amounts may leave through feces, exhaled air, and breast milk.
How can acrylamide affect my health? The main targets of acrylamide toxicity are the nervous system and reproductive system. Nervous system effects such as muscle weakness, numbness in hands and feet, sweating, unsteadiness, and clumsiness were reported in some acrylamide workers.