- February 21, 2020
- Posted by: admin
- Category: Blogs
Cookies come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors – and what’s not to love about that? The one thing all cookies have in common is the high-temperature baking process which many people do not know has been found to produce a harmful chemical, acrylamide, that has been linked to cancer.
We, at Hazox, have created a campaign to let you know of harmful chemicals in your food that you may not be aware of. In the first issue, we looked at what acrylamide is. If you have missed the first in the series, you can catch up here (https://www.hazoxinc.com/potato-chips-contain-harmful-chemicals-that-you-may-not-know-about/). Yesterday’s article looked at the range of foods acrylamide can be found in (https://www.hazoxinc.com/pretzels-contain-harmful-chemicals-that-you-may-not-know-about/).
In this third issue of Consumer Corner related to acrylamide we will explain in detail how this substance is formed in food and what factors affect this formation.
How does acrylamide form in your food?
Acrylamide is formed mainly through two fundamental mechanisms; the first occurs when amino acids interact with sugars in the presence of heat. Many different types of sugars and amino acids can interact under these conditions. However, one particular amino acid, called asparagine, has a much greater tendency to interact with sugars to form acrylamide than other amino acids.
In the second mechanism, acrylamide is produced without the presence of sugars. This happens when fats in food are oxidized and single 3-carbon molecules are formed. In the presence of heat, these formed molecules can interact with asparagine to form acrylamide. This is how most fried products create acrylamide.
A notable example of acrylamide formation is the conventional production of French fries. Initially, raw potatoes have a small amount of acrylamide, but when fried at high temperatures they produce unusually high amounts of acrylamide. Potato chips may contain more than 1,000 parts per billion (ppb) of acrylamide. In a small one-ounce bag of potato chips, this represents about 28 micrograms of acrylamide, which is about 20% of the maximum safe dietary intake as established by the EPA.
What is the relationship between acrylamide and asparagine?
As explained above, there is a greater tendency for acrylamide to be formed from the amino acid asparagine than from any other commonly produced amino acid. This fact could lead us to believe that there is a close relationship between the amount of asparagine found in food and its amount of acrylamide. However, research has shown that there is no such relationship. Asparagine is only one of the factors, there are many other requirements that must be met before acrylamide can be formed.
How can I reduce acrylamide formation in foods at home?
The recommendations offered are focused on reducing the cooking time and temperature that foods are subjected to, because these factors influence acrylamide formation. Some recommendations are as follows:
1. Get the right color. Ideally, a light golden yellow color should be achieved when frying, baking, toasting or roasting starchy foods such as potatoes, tubers or bread.
2. Read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Doing so ensures that starch-rich foods are cooked for just the right amount of time, not too long and not too hot.
3. Do not keep raw potatoes in the refrigerator. Doing so builds up sugars in the potatoes and increases the overall levels of acrylamide formation.
4. Eat a varied and balanced diet. Zero risk does not exist, so one of the premises for avoiding risk is to follow a healthy, balanced diet that includes fruit and vegetables.
Other ways to reduce exposure, as proposed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are boiling potatoes and cooking them in the microwave instead of frying them, soaking the raw potatoes in water for 15-30 minutes before frying, and drying them with paper towels.
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