UK FSA maintains safety guidance on acrylamide and furan

27 Jun 2018 --- The UK’s Food Standards Agency has investigated levels of acrylamide and furan in an extensive range of retail foods, concluding that what it found does not increase concerns about the risk to human health. As a result, the FSA will not be changing its advice to consumers about acrylamide and furan.

The agency gathered samples taken from 271 products collected between January 2017 and December 2017 including French fries, bread, cereals, biscuits, coffee, baby food, popcorn, cakes, pastries and chocolate.

The survey gives a snapshot of the range of acrylamide and furan levels in UK retail foods and is part of a program in response to recommendations from the European Commision which advise all member states to investigate levels of acrylamide and furan in food. 

Of the 271 products sampled, 269 were analyzed for acrylamide and 120 analyzed for furan.

Acrylamide is a chemical created when many foods, particularly starchy foods like potatoes and bread, are cooked for long periods at high temperatures, such as when baking, frying, grilling, toasting and roasting. Furan can be produced in food and drink when naturally occurring sugars, polyunsaturated fats and ascorbic acid (vitamin c) degrade when they are heat treated.

In April, new EU acrylamide legislation came into force concerning the amount of acrylamide in foods with “benchmark” levels being set for various products. The law was initially passed last year but only came in recently to allow time for manufacturers to examine and reduce acrylamide levels in products closely.

The legislation describes practical measures based upon best practice guidance developed by the food industry to mitigate acrylamide formation in a range of foods.

Both substances have the potential to raise the risk of cancer, which will then increase with regular exposure to higher levels, over a lifetime.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded that current levels of dietary exposure to acrylamide, furan and its methyl analogs such as 2-methyl furan and 3-methyl furan indicate a potential human health concern.

The agency considers that exposure to acrylamide and furans should be reduced to as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA).

The introduction of the new EU regulation concerning acrylamide levels in food has given added impetus for manufacturers to mitigate the substance in their products.

One of them is Frutarom Food Protection Solutions with its natural all-in-one solution for acrylamide, oxidation-reduction. The high-antioxidant solution reduces acrylamides in heat-processed foods, decreases oxidation and extends shelf-life. 

Renaissance BioScience offers Acrylow to tackle acrylamide, a solution that has shown excellent results in large-scale industrial trials in baked goods and snack foods, as well as in lab-scale tests in French fries, chips and coffee. This yeast was granted GRAS status by the US FDA in 2016 – the same status as conventional baker’s and brewer’s yeasts. It is patent-pending and was developed using classical non-GMO techniques.