Acrylamide

Acrylamide Infonet, Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition http://www.acrylamide-food.org/ 

EU/Swedish HEATOX Project, Up to date research references acrylamide in food http://www.slv.se/templatesHeatox/Heatox_default____8425.aspx

Europa Food and Feed Safety, Additional information on acrylamide  http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/food/chemicalsafety/contaminants/acrylamide_en.htm

European Union, Ways to Lower the Levels of Acrylamide Formed in Food http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/food/chemicalsafety/contaminants/acryl_guidance.pdf

FDA acrylamide web-page

FDA data sets of acrylamide levels in foods www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/acrydata.html

FDA's action plan http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/acrypla3.html  

Health Canada, Questions and Answers regarding Acrylamide in Food http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/food-aliment/cs-ipc/chha-edpcs/e_acrylamide_and_food.html

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Elrd/pestadd.html#acrylamide  

IFST: Acrylamide Information and Newshttp://www.ifst.org/acrylmd.htm

International Agency for Research on Cancer, Acrylamide – Evaluation of Evidence on Cancer Causing Potential
http://www-cie.iarc.fr/htdocs/monographs/vol60/m60-11.htm

Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
http://www.fao.org/es/ESN/jecfa/acrylamide_en.stm 2005 Report: http://www.who.int/ipcs/food/jecfa/summaries/en/summary_report_64_final.pdf  

National Toxicology Program Report on Carcinogens, Acrylamide http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/eleventh/profiles/s003acry.pdf

Status of acrylamide toxicology tests http://ntp-apps.niehs.nih.gov/ntp_tox/index.cfm?fuseaction=ntpsearch.ntpstudiesforchemical&cas_no=79-06-1

U.K. Food Standards Agency http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/acrylamide_branch/ Acrylamide: your questions answered: http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/acrylamide_branch/acrylamide_study_faq/

WHO, Frequently Asked Questions – Acrylamide in Food http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/chem/acrylamide_faqs/en/

NEWS

FDA assesses new report on acrylamide, FDA News Release (March 3, 2005) http://www.fda.gov:80/bbs/topics/news/2005/NEW01161.html The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing a report released on March 2, from the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) on acrylamide in food.

Acrylamide levels in food called "health concern" by UN expert committee: Levels should be reduced FAO (March 4, 2005) http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2005/100102/index.htmlGeneva/Rome  - A summary report released today by a Joint Expert Committee of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the unintentional contaminant acrylamide in certain foods may be of public heath concern since it has been shown to cause cancer in animals. The report, by a committee of 35 experts from 15 countries, called for continued efforts to reduce acrylamide in food.
The neurotoxicity of acrylamide in humans is known from instances of high occupational and accidental exposure when acrylamide is used in industrial processes in the production of plastics and materials. Studies in animals have also shown that acrylamide causes reproductive problems and cancer.
Based on this evaluation FAO and WHO recommend that efforts to reduce acrylamide levels in foodstuffs should continue. National food safety authorities should urge relevant food industries to work towards improving food preparation technologies that lower significantly the acrylamide content in critical foods, particularly potato chips and crisps (French fries and potato chips, respectively), coffee, pastries, sweet biscuits (cookies), breads, rolls and toasts. Preliminary investigations by industry and other researchers seem to suggest that significant reductions are currently feasible in several foods. The knowledge gained should help in developing guidance for home-prepared foods.
Moreover, the latest information available on acrylamide reinforces general advice on healthy eating. Consumers should continue to eat balanced and varied diets, which include plenty of fruit and vegetables, and to moderate their consumption of fried and fatty foods.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, News article on reducing acrylamide in food http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/health/acrylamide/can_do.html

Acrylamides pose little risk, panel decides
Reuters (June 23, 2004)- A report commissioned by the National Toxicology Program of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences was cited as reporting on Wednesday that acrylamides, a family of chemicals recently found in cooked foods that is known to cause cancer in rats, pose little threat to the U.S. population because people do not eat enough of the chemicals in their daily diet to risk the genetic damage that can lead to cancer, stating, "Considering the low level of estimated human exposure to acrylamides derived from a variety of sources, the Expert Panel expressed negligible concern for adverse reproductive and developmental effects for exposures in the general population."
    Experts were cited as saying the best way to find out if acrylamide causes cancer in people is to do epidemiological studies -- studies of populations to see if people who eat more foods containing acrylamides have higher rates of cancer. One such study, published by U.S. and Swedish researchers in January 2003, found no link between acrylamide consumption and the risk of bladder or kidney cancer.