Acrylamide formation in home-prepared foods

AGFD 62

Lauren S. Jackson, Lauren.Jackson@fda.hhs.gov1, Fadwa Al-Taher, altaher@iit.edu2, Joseph E. Jablonski, Joseph.Jablonski@cfsan.fda.gov3, and Gregory Fleischman, Gregory.Fleischman@cfsan.fda.gov3. (1) NCFST, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 6502 S. Archer Rd, Summit-Argo, IL 60501, (2) National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST), Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), 6502 S. Archer Rd., Summit-Argo, IL 60501, (3) U.S. Food and Drug Administration, National Center for Food Safety and Technology, 6502 S. Archer Rd., Summit-Argo, IL 60501
Acrylamide forms in carbohydrate-rich foods during high temperature processes such as frying, baking, roasting and extrusion. Although acrylamide is known to form during industrial processing of food, high levels of the compound have been found in home-cooked foods. It is therefore important to determine how home food preparation techniques affect acrylamide formation and what the relative contribution of home-cooked foods is to dietary exposure to acrylamide. These are research gaps that have been identified at several international meetings on acrylamide. Since acrylamide may have detrimental effects on public health, methods need to be identified for the consumer to reduce acrylamide formation during home preparation of food. The objectives of this work were to 1) study the effects of cooking conditions on acrylamide formation in a variety of consumer-prepared foods, 2) determine if frying oil type and age affect acrylamide formation in fried foods, and 3) identify methods for reducing acrylamide formation in home-prepared food. In all types of foods tested (French fries, toasted bread, cookies) acrylamide levels increased with cooking time and temperature regardless of cooking method (frying, baking, broiling, toasting). Analysis of the surface color (browning) by colorimetry indicated that some components of surface color ("a" and "L" values) correlated highly with acrylamide levels. This indicates that surface browning is an indicator of acrylamide formation during cooking. Acrylamide levels in French fries were not affected by type of frying oil or age (reuse) of the oil. Treatments that reduced acrylamide formation in fried, fresh-cut potato slices included soaking slices in water or diluted vinegar (1:1 or 1:3) for at least 15 min prior to frying. In general, acrylamide formation in food can be reduced by not cooking foods at excessively high temperatures and long times.
 

Sci-Mix
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Monday, 14 March 2005 Convention Center -- Sails Pavilion, Sci-Mix

Division of Agricultural & Food Chemistry

The 229th ACS National Meeting, in San Diego, CA, March 13-17, 2005