Acrylamide Formation and Mitigation in Food Products

Acrylamide is an unintended by-product of high-temperature cooking and processing of carbohydrate-rich foods. It arises predominantly through the Maillard reaction between free asparagine and reducing sugars at temperatures above 120 °C, yielding a contaminant classified as a probable human carcinogen. Concentrations vary widely among product types, influenced by raw material composition, cooking time and temperature, moisture content and storage conditions. The compound poses both public health and regulatory challenges, prompting limits on maximum levels in foods and driving research into practical mitigation. Strategies span the supply chain, from agronomic interventions—such as cultivar selection, fertiliser management and storage protocols—to processing controls, including enzyme treatments, thermal adjustments, pH modification and surface coatings. An integrated approach combining genetic, agronomic and technological measures offers the greatest promise for reducing dietary acrylamide exposure without compromising sensory quality or food safety.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have explored genetic and biochemical routes to limit asparagine accumulation in crop tissues. One investigation employed targeted silencing of asparagine synthetase genes in potato, achieving substantial reductions in precursor pools and corresponding acrylamide levels in fried products. Another contribution reviewed the kinetics of Maillard-derived processing contaminants across diverse food matrices, emphasising modelling approaches to predict acrylamide formation and guiding the design of low-temperature, high-moisture processes. A further report examined the impact of sulphur nutrition on free amino acid profiles in wheat grain, demonstrating that optimised sulphur application can depress asparagine content and thereby lower acrylamide-forming potential in cereal-based products.

Acrylamide Formation and Mitigation in Food Products publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in acrylamide formation and mitigation in food products across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Maillard reaction: Non-enzymatic browning process between amino acids and reducing sugars that produces flavour, colour and undesirable contaminants at high temperatures.

Free asparagine: Amino acid precursor unbound to proteins that reacts with reducing sugars to form acrylamide during cooking.

Reducing sugars: Carbohydrates possessing a free aldehyde or ketone group, essential substrates in the Maillard reaction.

Acrylamide-forming potential: A measure of the capacity of a food matrix to generate acrylamide, based on precursor concentrations and processing conditions.

Asparaginase: Enzyme that hydrolyses free asparagine to aspartic acid, reducing the pool of acrylamide precursors in foods.

References

1. Acrylamide-forming potential of potatoes grown at different locations, and the ratio of free asparagine to reducing sugars at which free asparagine becomes a limiting factor for acrylamide formation. Food Chemistry (2016).
2. Acrylamide in food: Progress in and prospects for genetic and agronomic solutions. Annals of Applied Biology (2019).
3. Acrylamide in Bakery Products: A Review on Health Risks, Legal Regulations and Strategies to Reduce Its Formation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2021).
4. Effects of variety, year of cultivation and sulphur supply on the accumulation of free asparagine in the grain of commercial wheat varieties. Food Chemistry (2017).
5. Hydrocolloid-Based Coatings are Effective at Reducing Acrylamide and Oil Content of French Fries. Coatings (2018).
6. Low‐acrylamide French fries and potato chips. Plant Biotechnology Journal (2008).