“Acrylamide forms when foods like potatoes and cereals become crispy and brown. It even forms in roasted coffee beans.” That means acrylamide is in the crunch of potato chips, the crispy edges of French fries, and in toasted snacks and rich roasted coffees.
Acrylamide in Potato Chips
When exposed to the high temperature used in the frying/baking process, the starches in potato chips start to form acrylamide. It doesn't matter whether you snack on Pringles, Lay's Classic Potato Chips, or Grandma Utz's Potato Chips – all potato chips can add to your body's acrylamide load.
Acrylamide can form naturally from chemical reactions in certain types of starchy foods, after cooking at high temperatures. Some foods with higher levels of acrylamide include French fries, potato chips, foods made from grains (such as breakfast cereals, cookies, and toast), and coffee.
High acrylamide exposure was associated with a linearly increased risk of endometrial cancer, particularly in never-smokers. A statistically significant association was found between dietary acrylamide exposure and ovarian cancer (especially in non-smokers).
Acrylamide forms from sugars and an amino acid that are naturally present in food. It does not form, or forms at lower levels, in dairy, meat and fish products.
The major food sources of acrylamide are French fries and potato chips; crackers, bread, and cookies; breakfast cereals; canned black olives; prune juice; and coffee. Acrylamide levels in food vary widely depending on the manufacturer, the cooking time, and the method and temperature of the cooking process (5, 6).
High temperature cooking, such as frying, roasting, or baking, is most likely to cause acrylamide formation. Boiling and steaming do not typically form acrylamide. Acrylamide is found mainly in foods made from plants, such as potato products, grain products, or coffee.
Oats have the second highest acrylamide forming potential of rye, wheat, barley and oats. Several studies have found high levels of acrylamide in oat products that exceed the benchmark limits within the EU. These limits might be strict limits in future which every food producer needs to follow.
Deep-fry potato products, such as chips and French fries to a golden yellow, or lighter colour. The oil temperature for cooking should ideally be below 175⁰C. Cooking to a golden yellow, or lighter colour, and deep-frying at lower temperatures will keep acrylamide levels low.
Frying potatoes to make potato crisps, hash browns or French fries provides favourable conditions for the formation of acrylamide, as potatoes contain high levels of asparagine and can contain high levels of reducing sugars.
Baked foods are generally considered healthier than fried foods because they are produced with little or no saturated fat, trans-fatty acids and hydrogenated oils. Still, the FDA examination showed that, depending on the brand, the levels of acrylamide in baked chips often exceeded those found in fried chips.
Once in your body, acrylamide enters your body fluids. Acrylamide and its breakdown products leave your body mostly through urine; small amounts may leave through feces, exhaled air, and breast milk.
Reduce consumption of foods that contain acrylamide:
Avoid eating a lot of carbohydrate-rich foods that are cooked at high temperatures (e.g., French fries). Foods with higher protein content appear to have lower amounts of acrylamide. Avoid overcooking foods.
How can acrylamide affect my health? The main targets of acrylamide toxicity are the nervous system and reproductive system. Nervous system effects such as muscle weakness, numbness in hands and feet, sweating, unsteadiness, and clumsiness were reported in some acrylamide workers.
While acrylamide is not an added ingredient, it is a result of frying food, one of the most common methods of cooking at McDonald's. Acrylamide levels are particularly high in fried potatoes.
Acrylamide is a chemical that can be created by cooking processes including baking, air frying, and toasting.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration monitors acrylamide levels in certain foods, and amounts in peanuts and peanut products are low or undetectable. If present, acrylamide naturally forms when peanuts are roasted; it is not added to peanut butter by manufacturers.
Acrylamide is in all coffee, as an unavoidable product of the Maillard reaction, that wonderful process that causes sugars and amino acids within food to transition to the brown, delicious toasty-roastiness we find in the crust of bread, the seared sides of a steak, a crispy french fry or potato chip, and of course the ...
Acrylamide in foodstuffs
The most important sources of acrylamide for adults include coffee, casseroles containing starch (potato or pasta) as well as rye bread, and for children casseroles, cookies, crisps and other baked potatoes. This is due to the high amounts in which they are consumed.
The content of acrylamide in corn/tortilla chips, popcorn, and corn flakes, as widely consumed products all over the world, is reported in the literature to be between 5 and 6360 μg/kg, between <LOD and 2220 μg/kg and between <LOD and 1186 μg/kg, respectively.
The contents of acrylamide in breads ranged from below the limit of quantification to 695 μg kg−1 and the mean acrylamide content was 225 μg kg−1. The highest mean level of acrylamide was detected in whole wheat bread.
The other concern when frying these chips is that a byproduct of processing is acrylamide - a carcinogenic compound that is created when the starchy potatoes are fried at high temperatures. To their benefit, Kettle Brand Chips lowered their acrylamide levels by 87% between 2005 to 2011.