Acrylamide is one of the most serious food safety problems still unsolved, in the absence of strict limits and official controls on the presence of this contaminant - carcinogenic and genotoxic - in food products.
SAFE Food Advocacy Europe expresses serious concerns about the health of children and adolescents and asks the European Commission to intervene effectively, in revising the very mild rules in force.
1) Acrylamide in foods
1.1) Introduction
'Acrylamide is a chemical [toxic, ed] that forms naturally in starchy food products during cooking at high temperatures - including frying, baking, roasting and industrial processing - at + 120 ° C and low humidity.
The main chemical process that causes it is known as the Maillard reaction, which "browns" food and affects its flavor.
Acrylamide is formed from sugars and amino acids (mainly one called asparagine) which are naturally present in many foods. Acrylamide is found in products such as potato chips, French fries, bread, cookies, and coffee'(EFSA).
1.2) Regulations in place
The scientific community has established for twenty years now the correlations between dietary exposure to acrylamide, on the one hand, and the risks of cancers with DNA damage in every age group. As early as 2005, EFSA confirmed the concerns expressed by the JECFA (United Nations Joint FAO / WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives) but only in 2015 did it publish a full scientific assessment in this regard.
The European Commission nevertheless, with reg. EU 2017/2158, limited itself to recommending the adoption of good practices to mitigate the training of acrylamide and define 'reference values' for the various categories of food at risk. (1) Neither the monitoring of the Member States, nor the subsequent recommendations, however, have resolved the serious risk to public health, also verified in Italy with a specific research (2,3,4).
1.3) Rules in progress
The necessary reform is expected in Brussels, in 2022, after an extended consultation of the stakeholders. Consumer associations such as SAFE, Foodwatch, BEUC have repeatedly denounced the inadequacy of the regulations in force. A study conducted in 10 member countries on over 500 food products (BEUC, 2019) showed excessive levels of acrylamide, to the point that 2/3 of the cookies were not suitable for consumption by children under the age of three.
The reform project must therefore introduce maximum thresholds for acrylamide in the various product categories, as provided for in recital 15 of reg. EU 2017/2158. And in any case, these thresholds must be reduced - explains Floriana Cimmarusti, general secretary of SAFE - since 'with the current levels and those proposed by the Commission, the probability that our children can take a quantity that is dangerous for their health is very high'.
2) Official controls and risk management
Notifications of member countries in the European alert system (Rapid Alert System on Food and Feed, RASFF), in 2020-2021, reveal acrylamide contaminations between 497 to 2690 µg / kg, equal to 4-5 times the reference values currently envisaged in the EU. But controls are lacking and food safety risk management is often late, unable to protect European consumers.
'The system of official controls it does not help to reduce the risk of contaminated products not circulating on our tables. Since today - from when a Member State analytically realizes that a contaminated product exists to when it warns the other States through the RASFF - on average between 15 and 30 days pass'. (Floriana Cimmarusti, SAFE).
3) Acrylamide, the limits proposed by SAFE
The European association of consumers SAFE, in its position expressed in Brussels on 17.2.22, 'cagrees with the Commission on Defense of the interest of ensuring a high level of protection of human health, but strongly suggests a timely adoption of maximum levels of acrylamide. '
The maximum limits of contamination proposed by SAFE for each food category and their reasons, below. Taking into account the existing reference levels and the need to reduce the exposure of children to acrylamide, and the serious health risks that arise from it.
3.1) Biscuits and waffles
Biscuits and waffles they are consumed by children of all ages, even under the age of three. On the other hand - as has already been noted in relation to mycotoxins, another category of carcinogenic and genotoxic contaminants (5) - it is dangerous to expose children, even if only aged 3 years and over - to contamination levels considered safe for an adult. 70 kg.
It is urged therefore the European Commission to:
- for the generality of biscuits and wafers, set a maximum threshold of acrylamide of 300 μg / kg (instead of the 350 μg / kg now foreseen as a reference level),
- for standard biscuits clearly aimed at children, define the same limit established for 'biscuits and rusks for infants and children' (150 μg / kg reference level 200 μg / kg maximum threshold).
3.2) crackers
The reference levels and maximum under discussion in Brussels (400 μg / kg and 500 μg / kg) 'they are unlikely to protect the young population from excessive exposure to acrylamide', explains the expert Luigi Tozzi of SAFE.
300 μg / kg they should not be exceeded, according to SAFE, taking into account that even these products in their various forms (eg pretzels) are commonly administered to even the smallest.
3.3) French fries and the like
Chips and similar, in the analyzes conducted by various consumer associations (BEUC. 2019), revealed an average acrylamide content of 1129 μg / kg. A peak of 2690 μg / kg was instead recorded in the RASFF system.
A reference level like that hypothesized by the European Commission, 700 μg / kg, would change nothing. On the basis of the data collected, SAFE proposes to set the maximum thresholds for acrylamide in vegetable crisps at 500 μg / kg.
3.4) New. Dried fruit
Dried Fruit with toasted shells and similar, in the analyzes and studies examined by SAFE, they showed in some samples levels of acrylamide higher than 1000 μg / kg, beyond any reference level required by reg. EU 2017/2158.
Even dried fruit, although not subject to high temperatures, 'has a surprising amount of acrylamide due to their drying over a long period'. Both categories must therefore be subjected to specific limits.
4) Conclusions
Given the high carcinogenicity of acrylamide and the evident difficulty that mitigation measures have in decreasing its presence in food, as consumed by children and young people, as well as the difficulty of Member States to control products on the market, SAFE calls for the maximum level to be determined according to the principle of maximum precaution.
'We recommend that the Commission establish safer binding levels for acrylamide in food types widely consumed by young children, with a focus on biscuits, wafers and breakfast cereal and vegetable crunchy products that are directly marketed to children. '. (SAFE, position paper 23.2.22).
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Dario Dongo. Acrylamide, ABC new rules. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 21.1.18/XNUMX/XNUMX, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/salute/acrilammide-abc-nuove-regole
(2) Dario Dongo, Ylenia Desire and Patti Giammello. Acrylamide, unresolved dangers. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 15.4.19/XNUMX/XNUMX, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/acrilammide-pericoli-irrisolti
(3) Dario Dongo. Acrylamide, the Commission takes time. Yet another recommendation. GIFTS (Great Italian Food Trade). 22.11.19/XNUMX/XNUMX, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/acrilammide-la-commissione-prende-tempo-ennesima-raccomandazione
(4) Dario Dongo, Ylenia Desire and Patti Giammello. Acrylamide in baked goods in Italy, study. GIFTS (Great Italian Food Trade). 25.11.20/XNUMX/XNUMX, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/acrilammide-nei-prodotti-da-forno-in-italia-studio
(5) Marta Strinati. Mycotoxins, interview with Carlo Brera, ISS expert. GIFTS (Great Italian Food Trade). 31.5.19/XNUMX/XNUMX, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/micotossine-intervista-a-carlo-brera-esperto-iss
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
