Fried Foods scare-How justified are the present concerns?

Who does not love fried foods, whether young or old? But many health pundits advocate avoiding fried foods which according to them can spell danger. Though to some extent this is true, eliminating them altogether from the diet is not a choice at all. Such advocacy is not justifiable according to present scientific knowledge available to day. Acrylamide is a chemical artifact generated in foods when they are exposed to high temperature due to reaction between the naturally occurring amino acid Asparagine and reducing sugars like glucose and this has been found to be a health hazard with potential to cause cancer. If one really looks at the toxicity levels injurious to humans, most foods eaten moderately and not regularly cannot be a risk at all. Of course any food eaten without any control can be dangerous and fried foods are no exception to this well accepted rule. According to scientific data Acrylamide contents in some of the commonly eaten foods does not exceed the limit set by health experts and normal healthy consumer may not be at a risk by eating them at moderate levels. Here is a take on this issue which is being being highlighted by many journalists and scientists recently.  

"Yesterday, US Food Safety posted a blog about the How to Reduce Acrylamide in Certain Foods.Today took this one step further and posted an article about what foods to avoid. Cut out, or at least cut back on, fried foods. This is just a good idea, anyway, but it's an especially good idea if acrylamide makes you nervous. "If you want to make a big difference, have things that you boil or steam or eat raw," Fernstrom says.  Don't eat crispy or burnt french fries. The FDA says overcooked, crispy or burnt french fries are the ones most likely to have higher levels of acrylamide. Go for the golden yellow fries, and avoid the brown ones. Also, don't eat burnt toast. Same concept here: The dark brown or black areas on a piece of toast are more likely to contain acrylamide. Toast your bread to a light brown color instead. "The best rule of thumb is just don't cook things to death," Fernstrom says. Potatoes don't belong in the refrigerator. Keeping potatoes in the fridge can increase the amount of acrylamide produced during cooking, the FDA says. Instead, keep them stored in a dark, cool place, like a pantry." 

Foods containing Aspargine and sugars which undergo rigorous cooking can generate Acrylamide and that includes biscuits, bread, coffee, French fries, Potato crisps, home cooked potatoes etc. French fries are reported to contain about 40 ug (microgram) of Acrylamide per kg while potato crisps generate a whopping 65 ug per kg. In contrast home cooked potatoes have 32 ug, coffee 25 ug, biscuits 32 ug and bread 15 ug per kg. but from time to time high values exceeding 1000 ug per kg are also reported. Safety limit for Acrylamide is also a matter of debate though 500 ug per kg body weight is more or less accepted. If this is so why all these scare mongering about Acrylamide? Recent claim by a potato breeder about the development of a "gene silenced" version of potato which generates far less Acrylamide than the tradition varieties appears to be a direct outcome of the undue Acrylamide scare that can benefit only the organized potato using industry.

V.H.POTTY
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LACTIC ACID BACTERIA-A PROCESSING AID?

Acrylamide scare is moving scientists to develop necessary means to tackle this issue at the processing level itself with minimum added cost to the processor. Though the danger posed by this chemical is not yet confirmed, there appears to be concerted move to "exploit" this "scare" and make a quick buck for the industry and fast fame for some scientists! Earlier there was this enzyme manufacturer in Europe offering appropriate enzyme system to preempt the Maillard reaction responsible for generating Acrylamide during high temperature processing. Now comes the report regarding the use of bacteria in making the precursors of Acrylamide innocuous and thus preempt the undesirable reaction.

"He and his research team found a method that limits the formation of acrylamide during the production of potato products and coffee. It was the patent for this method that provided the springboard for the company Zeracryl". "Our method is based on lactic acid fermentation," explains Dr Blom. "Acrylamide is formed as a reaction between the amino acid asparagine and simple sugars such as glucose and fructose. Put simply, the lactic acid bacteria remove these compounds and inhibit the formation of acrylamide." The team's ongoing experiments show that 10 to 15 minutes' immersion in lactic acid bacteria culture before cooking reduces acrylamide formation in the final product by roughly 90 per cent.

What effect LAB will have on the eating quality of fries made by the modified process has not been spelt out clearly. How far the modification will affect the continuous process of making fries is also an issue to be addressed by the industry while considering incorporation of the 15 min pretreatment step in the main process. Since maximum bacterial activity is obtained under optimum growing conditions and beyond the lag phase of growth, the 15 min process must have been based on an in vitro system where high density cell suspensions are used for eliciting the relevant enzyme activity to modify the constituents in the raw material responsible for Acrylamide reaction.

V.H.POTTY
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ACRYLAMIDE UPDATE-ROLE OF POLY PHENOLS IN MITIGATION

Acrylamide, ever since its advent on the food safety scenario, continues to attract attention from the scientific community though there is no unanimity regarding the health risks posed by this processing artifact formed in fried and baked goods. Its discovery in 2002 by a Swedish scientific group, initially raised serious apprehension regarding its impact on health but even to day there is no conclusive proof that Acrylamide, at the current levels in most processed foods, poses any danger to the consumers. As long as foods are "browned" during processing, especially at temperatures beyond 150C and liked by the consumers, formation of Acrylamide cannot be stopped and presence of reducing sugars and asparagine at high levels is bound to elevate its level in the end products. New approaches like using enzymes to reduce Acrylamide formation during thermal processing may not be feasible unless more serious safety questions crop up in future. On a theoretical level, use of poly phenols and other inhibitors of Acrylamide generating reactions may be of interest, at least for the scientific community.

"Given that acrylamide formation was very low at 115^oC, a temperature of 125^oC was chosen to examine the effects of phenolic compounds (trolox, ferulic acid, gallic acid, protocatechuic acid and caffeic acid) on acrylamide formation. The addition of standard phenolic compounds, containing hydroxyl phenyl groups in to the emulsion model resulted in reduction of acrylamide content, with the research showing such compounds to be effective in acrylamide mitigation. Reduction in acrylamide formation was observed to be at its best during the initial stage of heating – where it was seen to reach up to 70 per cent for trolox, gallic acid and protocatechuic acid and up to 50 per cent for ferulic and caffeic acid. Such reductions are not as great as those seen with commercial approaches, such as enzymes. Products from both Novozymes and DSM are said to be able to reduce acrylamide formation by up to 90 per cent".

While proposing use of poly phenolic substances like gallic acid for acrylamide reduction, the bitter taste of these additives on the acceptability of the end product has not been factored into the suggestion. The study is basically in liquid phase emulsion systems where as in reality acrylamides are formed mostly in solid, and semisolid food systems and as such might not be of interest to the main stream food industry. Such studies often raises a disturbing question as to the relevance of many similar studies by food scientists and optimal use of precious research resources.

V.H.POTTY
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http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ACRYLAMIDE "BUSTING"-THE YEAST "SOLUTION"

Acrylamide was identified as a hazardous artifact produced in foods containing reducing carbohydrates and the amino acid Asparagine at high temperatures which are encountered during frying and baking. Though many countries are still to wake up to the dangers posed by this toxic substance, at international levels ways and means of overcoming this hazard are seriously being pursued. The reported development of a process to reduce Acrylamide in processed foods using yeast has been claimed by one of the private companies, anticipating the potential business that may be generated for such a technology. As the technology is protected under IPO regime, very little technical information is being provided by the innovators.

'The World Health Organization (WHO) categorizes acrylamide as a Group 2A carcinogen, along with substances such as lead, creosotes, PCBs, diesel exhaust and urethane. As well, California health officials recently proposed that acrylamide be listed as a known reproductive toxicant, under Proposition 65, in addition to its inclusion as a carcinogen since 1990. Acrylamide has also been recently added to the candidate list for inclusion on the European Union's Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) following a unanimous decision by an expert EU health panel. Importantly, national food safety regulatory bodies and the food industry have been cooperating closely on approaches aimed at reducing acrylamide levels in processed foods.

"Acrylamide is a high-priority concern among consumers, the food industry and health regulators around the world," said Garth Greenham, president and COO of Functional Technologies. "Preliminary lab testing is positive and we're very excited to utilize yeast, with its long history of use and familiarity in the food industry, to help resolve this important health concern."

One of the possibilities could be to make, one of the two components required for Acrylamide formation immobile, using some yeast constituents so that the amide forming reaction is arrested. Whether this new technology will be useful with all the products like potato chips, french fried potatoes, fritters etc is not known now. The intake limitation for Acrylamide is estimated at 0.5 mg/kg body weight/day and the current average daily consumption is not more than a few micrograms per kg body weight, considered safe. The chance of getting cancer is 1 in 10000 if one consumes heavy Acrylamide containing foods regularly which in practice is not possible considering that highest levels detected in foods so far do not exceed 1 mg per kg. Against this back ground, whether the new technology will be of any relevance to day remains to be seen.

V.H.POTTY

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THE ACRYLAMIDE ISSUE- SOME SAFETY CONCERNS

Controversy generated by the Swedish report in 2002 regarding presence of Acrylamide at ppb levels in high carbohydrate foods exposed to high temperatures during preparation or processing is still eluding a definite conclusion though several studies in animals have implicated it in some serious health hazards. In a few countries upper limits have been suggested while many others have not yet taken seriously the data generated in rat studies. Even some fast food companies in the West have been taken to the court or fined for presence of this chemical in their products.

"A natural byproduct of cooking high-carbohydrate foods at high temperatures, Acrylamide also turns up in a wide variety of roasted and baked foods, including breakfast cereal, baby food, bread and crackers. Research has shown that the chemical can cause tumors and neurological problems in lab animals when they are fed unnaturally large doses".

One has to note that the results implicating Acrylamide in health problems have not yet been demonstrated in humans and even the present data pertains to use of unusually high levels of this chemical in feeding trials. How far such data can be correlated to humans is still uncertain. It is commendable that many in the industry are developing ways and means of avoiding Acrylamide generation during the processing stage and the awareness about possible dangers may spur the consumers also to exercise caution while cooking certain foods at home. A global consensus needs to be evolved regarding this issue through cooperative scientific studies.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com