Yet Another Reason to Skip the Fries: Acrylamide in Our Food
Sarabeth Matilsky
August 24, 2002
Unless they’ve been living in a cave for the past fifty years, most people know that potato chips and French fries aren’t the healthiest snacks on the planet. Greasy foods like chips and fries are high in calories and full of saturated and trans-fatty acids—and also, according to new reports, they can be extremely high in acrylamide.
Acrylamide is the latest chemical-to-avoid that you’ve probably never heard of. It’s a nerve poison and causes cancer in rodents, and according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), levels of the chemical that exceed Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG)—which happen to be set at zero for acrylamide—can cause many unfortunate health problems. In the short term, the EPA has found that acrylamide can potentially cause damage to the nervous system, weakness, and incoordination in the legs. Long term, it may cause paralysis and cancer. This past April, Swedish government scientists discovered significant levels of the carcinogen in certain fried, grilled, and baked starchy foods.
Science News (July 6, 2002) reported that the formation of acrylamide in food constitutes "a serious problem," according to a United Nations panel. In early July, 23 food-science and cancer specialists convened in a closed meeting at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva to review acrylamide’s potential negative impact on health.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to join what is fast becoming a "major global debate," and to "treat acrylamide with greater seriousness." CSPI recently commissioned new laboratory tests to measure acrylamide levels in popular brands of chips, taco shells, French fries, and breakfast cereals.
The results? McDonald’s French fries showed the highest levels of acrylamide among the foods CSPI tested, with large orders containing 39 to 72 micrograms. One-ounce portions of Pringles potato chips contained about 25 micrograms; Fritos and Tostitos contained half that amount or less. Regular and Honey Nut Cheerios contained 6 or 7 micrograms of the carcinogenic substance. That means that the amount of acrylamide in a large order of fast-food French fries is at least 300 times more than what the EPA allows in an 8 oz. glass of water: .12 micrograms. (The substance is often used as a "coagulating agent" in water treatment plants.)
"The FDA has been strangely silent about acrylamide," CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson said. "It should be advising consumers to avoid or cut back on the most contaminated and least nutritious foods while more testing is done across the food supply. The FDA also should be intensively investigating ways of preventing the formation of this carcinogen."
According to CSPI’s report ,"Acrylamide forms as a result of unknown chemical reactions during high-temperature baking or frying. Raw or even boiled potatoes test negative for the chemical. CSPI...[urges]...the FDA to inform the public of the risks from acrylamide in different foods, and to work with industry and academia to understand how acrylamide is formed and how to prevent its formation."
Fast food isn’t the only industry to blame for excessive acrylamide exposure—plastics and resin manufacturers, and pulp mills also release it into the environment in large quantities. These are the top states for acrylamide release (in pounds) into land/water: Michigan (12,200/0), Washington (8,000/0), Connecticut (5,690/0), Louisiana (4,367/500), Pennsylvania (2,505/20), and Alabama (1,262/1,258).