Acrylamide In The News: Bamboo Leaf Extract

After posting, “Everyday Poison“, I decided to keep an eye out for further reports of acrylamide in the news. I found the following at bakeryandsnacks.com:

Using an antioxidant-rich bamboo leaf extract could reduce the formation of acrylamide in potato chips and French fries by about 75 per cent, according to a new study.

“This study could be regarded as a pioneer contribution on the reduction of acrylamide in various foods by natural antioxidants,” wrote lead author Yu Zhang in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Acrylamide is a carcinogen that is created when starchy foods are baked, roasted, fried or toasted. It first hit the headlines in 2002, when scientists at the Swedish Food Administration first reported unexpectedly high levels of acrylamide, found to cause cancer in laboratory rats, in carbohydrate-rich foods.

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The researchers, from Zhejiang Universitys Department of Food Science and Nutrition, report that by immersing the potato crisps and French fries in bamboo leaf extract so that the extract penetrated into the potato matrix prior to the frying process, could reduce the formation of this cancer-causing compound.

The extract, with the main components characterised as flavonoids, lactones and phenolic acids, is listed as a food ingredient in China, and permitted as an additive in a range of food products, including fish and meat products, edible oils, and puffed food.

“Our results showed that nearly 74.1 per cent and 76.1 per cent of acrylamide in potato crisps and French fries was reduced when the AOB addition ratio was 0.1 per cent and 0.01 per cent (w/w), respectively,” said Zhang.

So, as it now stands, the FDA still has not decided if acrylamide is dangerous for human consumption, but labratories around the world are working to reduce it from our foods.

I think we need an overhaul of the FDA. Any federal agency that kowtows to the very industry it is suppose to regulate, desperately needs to be overhauled.