William St
Wed, Jan-15-03, 23:57
Here's an interesting clip from this link:
http://www.fda.gov/oc/speeches/2002/farmjournal.html
Next, I want to bring you up-to-date on the FDA's progress in
addressing an issue that has stirred great interest among food
scientists. I am referring to the studies released earlier
this year that show that baked, fried or roasted foods rich in
carbohydrates -- including such dietary staples as bread --
contain acrylamide, which, at high doses, is a known animal
carcinogen. In soft bread, the reported levels of acrilamide
range from 30 micrograms to 162 micrograms per kilogram, and
in potato chips, to mention another example, the range is from
1.4 micrograms to 100 micrograms per ounce.
Acrylamide is well known to manufacturers who use it for water
treatment and production of dies and plastics, but it is
largely a terra incognita for food scientists. There were
epidemiological studies conducted in the past that did not
show increased cancer risk in people, but the studies were
limited in scope, and did not include ingestion of the
acrylamide in food.
Given the key role of carbohydrates in our diet, it's been
incumbent on our scientific community to subject acrylamide to
a close scrutiny. Some of the questions that need to be
answered are, for example, is it genotoxic? How is it formed?
What is its level of exposure in the general population? What
is its bioavailability in food? And what are the biomarkers of
acrylamide exposure?
I am glad to report that these questions are being
vigorously tackled by many scientists in government,
industry and academia. The WHO/FAO has created a special
network for sharing the emerging data - and new information
is coming in fast.
http://www.fda.gov/oc/speeches/2002/farmjournal.html
Next, I want to bring you up-to-date on the FDA's progress in
addressing an issue that has stirred great interest among food
scientists. I am referring to the studies released earlier
this year that show that baked, fried or roasted foods rich in
carbohydrates -- including such dietary staples as bread --
contain acrylamide, which, at high doses, is a known animal
carcinogen. In soft bread, the reported levels of acrilamide
range from 30 micrograms to 162 micrograms per kilogram, and
in potato chips, to mention another example, the range is from
1.4 micrograms to 100 micrograms per ounce.
Acrylamide is well known to manufacturers who use it for water
treatment and production of dies and plastics, but it is
largely a terra incognita for food scientists. There were
epidemiological studies conducted in the past that did not
show increased cancer risk in people, but the studies were
limited in scope, and did not include ingestion of the
acrylamide in food.
Given the key role of carbohydrates in our diet, it's been
incumbent on our scientific community to subject acrylamide to
a close scrutiny. Some of the questions that need to be
answered are, for example, is it genotoxic? How is it formed?
What is its level of exposure in the general population? What
is its bioavailability in food? And what are the biomarkers of
acrylamide exposure?
I am glad to report that these questions are being
vigorously tackled by many scientists in government,
industry and academia. The WHO/FAO has created a special
network for sharing the emerging data - and new information
is coming in fast.