Acrylamide, a carcinogen formed by high-temperature processing and cooking in food such as wheat products

Abstract

　Acrylamide, a probable human carcinogen, is found in a wide range of high-temperature processed and/or cooked foods. Acrylamide is formed mainly from asparagine in Maillard reaction in the presence of reducing sugar such as fructose and glucose. While this compound can be metabolized to glutathione conjugates, it is also oxidized to glycidamide, a genotoxic compound. Glycidamide forms DNA adducts. Acrylamide is also known to have genotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and reproductive and developmental toxicity. The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) evaluated health risk of acrylamide in food. The major contributing foods to total intake of acrylamide were found to be French fries, potato chips, coffee, pastry and sweet biscuits, and bread and rolls/toasts. The committee concluded based on national estimates that an intake of 1μg/kg bw per day of acrylamide could be taken to represent the average for the general population. The Committee selected 0.18mg/kg body weight per day as the most sensitive carcinogenicity estimate from animal study data. The margin of exposure (MOE) for the general population was thus calculated to be ca. 200, which is low for carcinogen and indicates human health concern. The Code of Practice for the Reduction of Acrylamide in Foods was published by Codex Alimentarius Commission in 2009 based on scientific analytical data obtained worldwide. Although acrylamide level in foods is decreasing owing to mitigation measures taken by food industry, the MOE is considered to be still staying less than 1000.