ABSTRACT

Acrylamide is one of the latest discovered neurotoxic and carcinogenic substances in food. Upon single exposure, acrylamide is toxic or harmful by all routes of administration [1,2]. Acrylamide has been added to the list of food-borne toxicants since 2002, when the Swedish National Food Administration found relevant amounts of acrylamide in several heat-treated, carbohydrate-rich foods such as potato chips, coffee, and bread [3]. It has been widely used since the last century for various chemical and environmental applications [4]. Some of the common uses of acrylamide are in the paper, dyes, cosmetics, and toiletry industry. Acrylamides have also been used as occulants for clarifying drinking water, and for waste water treatment. It is produced commercially as an intermediate in the production and synthesis of polyacrylamides [2]. They are also a component of tobacco smoke, which gave the earliest indication that it can be formed by heating of biological material [5]. Acrylamide can also be present in a variety of food cooked at high temperature. For example, the daily mean intake of acrylamide present in some foods and coffee in a Norwegian subpopulation have been estimated to be 0.49 and 0.46 g per kg body weight in males and females, respectively [6]. Acrylamide is formed during frying, roasting, and baking and is not typically found in boiled or microwaved foods. The highest acrylamide levels have been found in fried potato products, bread and bakery wares, and coffee [7]. All the same, a great variability in acrylamide level between different products of each food category as well as between different brands of the same product has been reported. The difference in the concentration of precursors (free asparagine and reducing sugars) in raw materials, difference in food composition, and in process conditions applied can easily explain the observed variability [8]. Moreover, the actual acrylamide content of a food as it is eaten can largely vary according to domestic cooking conditions. Estimates of dietary acrylamide intake have been made for populations in many countries. A great variability between populations has been found according to a population’s eating habits and the way the foods are processed and prepared. Dybing et al. [9] reported an average daily intake for adults close to 0.5 mg/kg body wt, with 95th percentile values of about 1 mg/kg body wt. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates a daily dietary intake of acrylamide in the range of 0.3-2.0 mg/kg body wt for the general population and up to 5.1 mg/kg body wt for the 99th percentile consumers [10].