Bioquimica

Food Chemistry 133 (2012) 1138–1154[->0]

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Food Chemistry

journal homepage: www . elsevier . com/locate/foodchem



Acrylamide formation in fried potato products – Present and future, a critical review on mitigation strategies

Raquel Medeiros Vinci, Frdric Mestdagh, Bruno De Meulenaer
NutriFOODchem Unit, Department of FoodSafety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium



a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:

Available online 6 August 2011

Keywords:

Acrylamide

Fried potato products

French fries

Mitigation strategies

Lab scale tests

Industrial production

Risk management



a b s t r a c t

Acrylamide is provento be carcinogenic in rodents and a ‘probable’ human carcinogen, with increasing evidence of positive associations with human cancers. Thus, authorities and industry urge to find solu-tions for acrylamide formation, while no legal limits have yet been established for this contaminant in foods. Most of the acrylamide dietary exposure results from potato products, coffee, bakery products andchocolate. Acrylamide is formed in potato products during industrial processing, retail, catering and home preparation. This review summarizes the research to date on acrylamide levels, mechanisms of formation, assessment of acrylamide intake and health risk, and possible mitigation strategies from farm to fork in fried potato products. Furthermore, relevant issues regarding the implementation ofmit-igation strategies on an industrial scale are discussed and evolution of risk management summarized. In conclusion, ‘lab scale studies’ in acrylamide mitigation research should be interpreted with utmost care. This leads to the pertinent question ‘‘What is the next step to reduce acrylamide exposure while main-taining the expected product quality for the consumer?’’

2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rightsreserved.




1. Introduction

Acrylamide is used in the chemical industry since the 1950s as an intermediate in the production of polyacrylamide polymers and copolymers in order to improve adhesion and cross-link of poly-mers. Polymerized acrylamide is widely used as a flocculant in wastewater treatment and paper and textile manufacturing. Its application is also extended as groutingagents for the construction of dam foundations, sewers and tunnels, in cosmetics and in elec-trophoresis gels. Incomplete polymerization may result in residual amounts of the acrylamide monomer in final products ( Shipp et al., 2006) with a maximum concentration permitted up to of 5 mg/kg ( Cosmetic Ingredient Review, 2009). In addition, acrylamide is also found in filtered cigarette mainstream smoke( Smith, Perfetti, Rumple, Rodgman, & Doolittle, 2000).

After the leakage of acrylamide that occurred at the Hallandss tunnel construction in Sweden ( Reynolds, 2002), unexpected high levels of acrylamide were found in the blood of a control group of subjects (non-smokers) without occupational exposure. These findings led to the hypothesis that acrylamide might be present via dietary exposure( Tareke, Rydberg, Karlsson, Eriksson, & Trnqvist, 2000). The Swedish National Food Administration re-ported in 2002 the presence of relevant amounts of acrylamide in several carbohydrates rich foods baked at high temperatures

Corresponding author. Tel.: +32 9 264 61 66; fax: +32 9 264 62 15. E-mail address: Bruno.DeMeulenaer@UGent.be (B. De Meulenaer).

0308-8146/$ - see front matter2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.08.001




( Swedish National Food Administration, 2002). These findings were soon confirmed by other research groups and together with stakeholders, efforts were carried out to build greater understand-ing of acrylamide, concerning the mechanism of its formation in foods, the risks associated for consumers and possible...