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In April 2002, scientists in Sweden discovered unexpectedly large amounts of the chemical acrylamide in foods rich in starch that had been cooked at high temperatures. These mainly included potato and cereal based products such as crisps, chips, bread and crispbreads. Acrylamide is known to cause cancer in animals and its presence in some foods may harm people's health.
The Food Standards Agency takes this issue extremely seriously, since it is UK policy that people's exposure to chemicals of this nature should be as low as reasonably practical. Since the initial discovery, the Agency has conducted its own research , which confirmed the findings in Sweden. It has also played a significant role in contributing to European and international efforts to find out how acrylamide forms in food.
Although some studies have already been carried out, further research is needed to work out how best the issue might be resolved. As part of the international efforts to investigate acrylamide, the Agency is continuing to fund research. This research has consisted of a group of projects that feed into one another and other activities. The main aim of these activities is to understand the mechanism of formation and so provide a basis for minimising the amount of acrylamide present in food.
The Agency's research includes projects investigating acrylamide in the UK diet, the effect of domestic cooking on acrylamide in food, how acrylamide is formed and how acrylamide levels can be reduced.
Meanwhile, the Agency has advised that people should continue to eat a healthy, balanced diet including plenty of fruit and vegetables, as well as bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods, some meat, fish, eggs, beans, milk and dairy foods, and just a small amount of foods and drinks high in salt, fat and sugar (including chips and crisps).
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Acrylamide is a chemical produced naturally in food as a result of cooking/processing at temperatures typically greater than 120°C. It forms from a reaction between natural components in the foods, an amino acid 'asparagine' and simple sugars. This can occur during the manufacture of food products or as a result of home cooking.
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