More on Acrylamide

I realize that I did not provide much information on how to avoid acrylamide, other than "don't eat french fries or potato chips," so this post will provide a bit more information about acrylamide, why it's in our food, and what we can do to minimize exposure.


As indicated before, acrylamide is a naturally occurring substance that forms during cooking of high-carb, low-protein foods like potatoes, breads, coffee, and nuts.  Most acrylamide in food is formed when a natural amino acid called asparagine reacts with certain naturally occurring sugars such as glucose.

The Health Canada website has a whole section on acrylamide.  They even conducted a study to determine how it was formed and subsequently published those findings: "Acrylamide in Foods: Occurrence, Sources, and Modelling" A. Becalski, B. P.-Y. Lau, D. Lewis, S.W. Seaman; Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2003; 51(3): 802-808.


Further, Health Canada makes some suggestions as to how to reduce the occurrence of acrylamide in foods you prepare at home:

• Recent scientific findings suggest cooking french fries to a light golden color and using maximum temperatures of 175°C (350°F) when deep-frying and 230°C (450°F) when baking.
• Do not store potatoes below 8°C (low temperature storage can increase the components that contribute to acrylamide formation).
• Wash or soak fresh cut potatoes in water for several minutes before frying (this can reduce the components that contribute to acrylamide formation).
• When toasting bread or baked goods:
• Toast to the lightest colour acceptable.
• The crust of toast or bread will have higher levels of acrylamide than the remainder, even though these levels are lower than those in french fries and potato chips. You may wish to remove the crust if it is dark or burned.

I am sure that occasional consumption of foods containing acrylamide isn't going to immediately cause cancer.  Certainly, diets that are full of deep-fried potatoes, bread, and coffee would put a person at higher risk for developing acrylamide-caused cancer.  This is just one more reason to eat these foods sparingly and in moderation.  Prepare and make your own french fries, if you must eat some.  Instead of buying roasted almonds, get a dehydrator and buy raw almonds and sprout and dry them - or roast them yourself at lower temperatures.  If you're a big coffee drinker, like me, maybe it's a good idea to avoid all other sources of acrylamide, to lessen your exposure.

Acrylamide and Why It's Bad

Acrylamide is a naturally occurring substance that is used in many processes, including the paper-making industry, the manufacture of permanent press fabrics, waste water treatment, and more.  Aside from people who work with the chemical, most people's contact with acrylamide occurs through food.


Acrylamide is a white, odorless, tasteless crystalline solid that forms on starchy foods during the process of baking, roasting, microwaving, or frying at high temperatures (above 120C).  In addition, the longer the food item is cooked, the more acrylamide is created.  Acrylamide is one of those chemicals that are believed to cause cancer: "Acrylamide causes cancer in rats when administered orally in high dose experiments, increasing tumors in the nervous system, oral cavity, peritoneum, thyroid gland, mammary gland, uterus, and clitoris." (Wikipedia)  


Health Canada announced in February 2009 that they were "assessing if acrylamide is a hazard to human health and whether any regulatory action needs to be taken." (Wikipedia)  Further to that, the European Chemical Agency added acrylamide to the list of "substance of very high concern" in March 2010.


Think you're safe from acrylamide?  Not so fast.  Acrylamide appears in many food items, but the worst offenders are:


~potato chips;

~french fries;                                                                             
~crackers, toast, bread, cookies;
~boxed breakfast cereal;
~corn chips and tortilla chips;
~bakery products;
~coffee; and
~cocoa.


Please note that the longer something is cooked, the more acrylamide it contains: so bread has far less acrylamide than toasted bread.  The same is true for french fries: light-coloured french fries have less acrylamide than dark, crispy fries.


It is estimated that 20-40% of most adults' exposure comes from coffee.  The acrylamide in coffee is formed during the roasting process, so if you drink coffee, choose beans that are lightly roasted.


The FDA has analyzed a bunch of processed foods for their acrylamide content, the results can be found HERE.


This chemical is just another reason to avoid processed foods, including refined wheat and corn, and to eat raw foods when you can.  And if you needed a good reason to stop eating potato chips (even organic ones), well, this is it.


This post is a participant in Real Food Wednesday @ Kelly the Kitchen Kop!