Determination of acrylamide in fast food items

CHED 232

Suresh Tewani, stewani@citytech.cuny.edu and Neha Grewal. Department of Chemistry, New York City College of Technology - CUNY, 300 Jay St # P-618, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Acrylamide, a probable human carcinogen has been recently detected in many popular fast foods such as french fries. Acrylamide has also been known as a neurotoxin, which has drawn great concern from food manufacturers and consumers. Studies on the analysis, occurrence, sources, metabolism and toxicology of acrylamide have gained momentum. Key issue is the factors that influence the acrylamide content of heated foods. Many carbohydrates were heated in the microwave with Aspargine as an example of model food formula to investigate their effect on acrylamide formation. Optimal conditions for minimizing acrylamide formation were investigated. In our experiments, different techniques were used to quantitate the acrylamide produced in the cooked food models. We employed Cysteine derivatives to trap acrylamide through a Michael reaction. Cysteine adducts and acrylamide were then quantitated using reversed-phase HPLC-MS and/or HPLC-UV. In an alternative technique, the samples were deproteinized with acetonitrile and then acrylamide was detected directly.