Council for Agricultural Science and Technology—1 Il for Agricultural Science and Techn Logy

INTRODUCTION In April 2002, researchers at the Swedish National Food Administration and Stockholm University, using a new analytical procedure, announced they had discovered the presence of acrylamide in foods prepared by heating (frying, baking) at temperatures above 120°C (Swedish 2002; Tareke et al. 2002). Identification of acrylamide in these foods, which include french fries, potato chips (crisps), cookies (biscuits) and crackers, crispbreads, breakfast cereals, corn chips (crisps), and soft breads, had not been reported previously and the discovery prompted numerous verification studies in other European countries and in North America. Acrylamide is a toxic, cancer-causing industrial chemical used primarily in the preparation of polyacrylamide (polymerized acrylamide), which is used principally in water and wastewater treatment and in pulp and paper processing. Most previous toxicological data on acrylamide were gathered from high-dose animal studies or from human exposure in the workplace. Before the Swedish study, no data were available on the effects of acrylamide at the low concentrations observed in food (i.e., in the microgram (μg)/kilogram (kg) [parts per billion (ppb)] range). So acrylamide is not new, but its presence in food is newly discovered. Increased concern about the effect of acrylamide on human health prompted the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to convene an Expert Consultation on “Health Implications of Acrylamide in Food” in June 2002 (UNFAO/WHO 2002). Numerous gaps in knowledge concerning the formation, occurrence, dietary exposure, and potential for adverse health risks of acrylamide were identified, and the resulting recommendations called for additional research on these topics. One of the foremost needs was to determine the range of affected food types and the extent to which acrylamide was formed, especially in non-Western diets. There seemed to be no urgent reason to promulgate new dietary guidance because, among other considerations, acrylamide is not new to the human food supply and the anticipated amount of human consumption is well below the amounts required to induce toxic effects in animal models. Research efforts since April 2002 reflect an unprecedented extent of cooperation among scientists worldwide. Numerous international meetings have been held. EuroTASK FORCE MEMBERS: David Lineback, Cochair, Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, University of Maryland, College Park; Michael W. Pariza, Cochair, Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison; James Coughlin, Coughlin & Associates, Laguna Niguel, California; Catherine Davies, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark; Beate Kettlitz,* BEUC, the European Consumers’ Organization, Brussels, Belgium; Lauren Posnick Robin, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, Maryland; David Schmidt, International Food Information Council, Washington, D.C.; Joseph Scimeca, Cargill, Inc., Wayzata, Minnesota; Richard Stadler, Nestle Product Technology Center Orbe, Orbe, Switzerland REVIEWERS: Lilianne Abramsson Zetterberg, Lilianne Abramsson Zetterberg, National Food Administration, SLV, Uppsala, Sweden; Joseph Borzelleca, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond; Henry Kim, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, Maryland; Steve Saunders, Food Safety, Frito-Lay, Plano, Texas; CAST BOARD LIAISON: Suzanne Hendrich, Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames