In-house-validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for survey of acrylamide in various processed foods from Korean market

Dietary acrylamide exposure and health risk assessment of pregnant women: A case study from Türkiye

This study aimed to determine the acrylamide exposure of pregnant women resulting from the consumption of bread, coffee, and French fries and to evaluate it in terms of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks. Retrospective 24-h food consumption data of pregnant women (n = 487) was obtained using the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Dietary acrylamide exposure was calculated according to a deterministic model, and the data were assessed by hazard index (HI) and carcinogenic risk (CR). The mean daily acrylamide exposure of pregnant women aged 18-30 and ≥31 years and in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimesters was 31.4, 35.4, 38.7, 31.3, and 32.4 μg/day, respectively. The acrylamide exposure data were not significantly different among different age groups and pregnancy periods (p > .05). Dietary acrylamide exposure in pregnant women of different age groups and trimesters may cause significant and serious health problems in terms of carcinogenic risk. According to their level of contribution to average acrylamide exposure, the foods were ranked as follows: French fries> bread> coffee. There is a significant risk of cancer due to exposure to acrylamide from French fries and bread other than coffee. The findings suggest that pregnant women should avoid consuming French fries, bread, and coffee with high acrylamide levels for both their own health and their newborns' health.

A dual-recognition-controlled electrochemical biosensor for selective and ultrasensitive detection of acrylamide in heat-treated carbohydrate-rich food

A synergistic hybrid was fabricated for the electrochemical aptasensing of acrylamide (AAM) via molecularly imprinted technology. The aptasensor depends on the modification of glassy carbon electrode with AuNPs and reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) {Au@rGO-MWCNTs/GCE}. The aptamer (Apt-SH) and AAM (template) were incubated with the electrode. After that, the monomer was electro-polymerized to fabricate molecular imprinted polymeric film (MIP) over the surface of Apt-SH/Au@rGO/MWCNTs/GCE. The modified electrodes were characterized using different morphological and electrochemical techniques. Under optimum conditions, the aptasensor exhibited a linear relationship between AAM concentration and anodic peak current difference (ΔIpa) in the range of 1-600 nM with a limit of quantitation (LOQ, S/N = 10) and a limit of detection (LOD, S/N = 3) of 0.346 and 0.104 nM, respectively. The aptasensor was successfully applied for the determination of AAM in potato fries samples with recoveries % in the range of 98.7-103.4 % and RSDs did not exceed 3.2 %. The advantages of MIP/Apt-SH/Au@rGO/MWCNTs/GCE are low detection limit, high selectivity, and satisfactory stability towards AAM detection.

Association of acrylamide hemoglobin biomarkers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the general population in the US: NHANES 2013-2016

Background: Acrylamide is a well-known potential carcinogenic compound formed as an intermediate in the Maillard reaction during heat treatment, mainly from high-temperature frying, and is found in baked goods and coffee, as well as resulting from water treatment, textiles and paper processing. The effects of acrylamide on lung disease in humans remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between blood acrylamide and glycidamide and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the United States of America (U.S.) population using PROC logistic regression models. Results: 2744 participants aged 20 to 80 from the 2013-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were enrolled. After adjusting for demographic data, health factors and serum cotinine, the ratio of HbGA to HbAA (HbGA/HbAA) significantly increased the risk of COPD (P for trend = 0.022). The odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for HbGA/HbAA in the third tile was 2.45 (1.12-5.31), compared with the lowest tile. The restricted cubic spline (RCS) curve showed a positive linear correlation between the log (HbGA/HbAA) and the risk of COPD (P = 0.030). Conclusion: The ratio of glycidamide and acrylamide (HbGA/HbAA) was associated with COPD. This association was more prominent in males, obese individuals, people with a poverty income ratio (PIR) < 1.85 or people who never exercise. However, null associations were observed between HbAA, HbGA and HbAA + HbGA, and COPD.

An improved extraction method for acrylamide determination in fruit and vegetable chips through enzyme addition

An enzyme-addition method to pretreat fried fruit and vegetable chips for acrylamide analysis is reported, followed by determination of the acrylamide contents in 36 marketed fruit and vegetable chip products using LC-MS/MS. To improve the extraction process, the FDA method was modified. Specifically, digestive enzymes were added, overcoming the clogging of filters (or SPE cartridges) after extraction of vegetable chips using water. Diastase was added to extract high-starch products, including potato chips. Recoveries of 90.3-105.5% acrylamide were obtained at the spiking levels of 25-500 μg/kg. LOD and LOQ were similar between the method with (4.5 and 13.7 μg/kg) and without diastase addition (4.4 and 13.2 μg/kg). Okra chip with high mucin content was extracted after adding pepsin. This method provided a recovery of 99.8-102.2%, LOD of 6.0 μg/kg, and LOQ of 18.1 μg/kg. Both methods could be used for analyzing acrylamide, with critical method parameters satisfying European Union regulations.

Dietary Exposure to Acrylamide and Associated Health Risks for the Korean Population

The aim of the study was to estimate the dietary exposure to acrylamide (AA) from the consumption of various processed food and to assess the associated health risks in different age groups in Korea. Potato crisps and French fries presented the highest mean levels of AA (546 and 372 μg/kg, respectively) followed by coffee (353 μg/kg) and tea products (245 μg/kg). The mean AA dietary exposure values for toddlers (≤2 years), children (3-6 years), children (7-12 years), adolescents (13-19 years), adults (20-64 years), and seniors (≥65 years) were estimated to be 0.15, 0.13, 0.06, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.06 μg/kg body weight (BW)/day, respectively. Based on the benchmark dose lower confidence limit (BMDL10) of 0.18 and 0.31 mg/kg BW/day, the calculated mean and 95th percentile values for the margin of exposure were below 10,000 for the all age groups suggesting possible health concern for Koreans. Biscuits, crisps, and coffee were the primary foods contributing to dietary AA exposure among these in the Korean populations. In children, considering the health risk of AA dietary exposure, especially from biscuits and crisps, there is a need to further control and modify dietary habits to ensure lower AA exposure.

Association of urinary acrylamide concentration with lifestyle and demographic factors in a population of South Korean children and adolescents

Acrylamide (AA) has been identified as probably carcinogenic to humans and thus represents a potential public health threat. This study aimed to determine the urinary concentrations of AA and N-acetyl-S-(2-carbamoylethyl)-L-cysteine (AAMA) in a nationally representative sample (n = 1025) of children and adolescents (age range 3-18 years) in South Korea. The AA and AAMA detection rates and geometric mean concentrations were 97%, 19.1 ng/mL, and 98.7%, 26.4 ng/mL, respectively. Although urinary AA levels did not vary widely by age (17.2 ng/mL at 3-6 years, 19.9 ng/mL at 7-18 years), the urinary concentration of AAMA increased with age (18.3 ng/mL at 3-6 years, 30.4 ng/mL at 7-18 years). A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the urinary levels of AA and AAMA varied significantly by sex, with the adjusted proportional changes indicating rates of 1.47- to 1.48-fold higher at 3-6 years and 1.36- to 1.68-fold higher at 7-18 years among males relative to females. Furthermore, the urinary levels of AA and AAMA correlated with the consumption of certain foods (doughnuts, hotdogs, popcorn, and nachos) among male subjects aged 7-18 years. The urinary concentrations of AA and AAMA increased significantly with the smoking status and passive smoking exposure, with adjusted proportional changes of 1.51 to 1.71-fold higher among smokers relative to non-smokers in the age range of 7-18 years. Exposure to smoking for > 30 min led to adjusted proportional increases in AA and AAMA of 1.51 and 1.77 times in the non-smoking group aged 3-6 years and a 1.52-fold increase in AAMA in the non-smoking group aged 7-18 years. In conclusion, the urinary levels of AA and AAMA were found to associate with age, sex, smoking, and food consumption in a population of Korean children and adolescents.

Acrylamide Content of Experimental and Commercial Flatbreads

Acrylamide, formed in baked and fried plant-based foods, is reported to induce numerous adverse effects in cells, animals, and humans. Examples from the literature show that processed potato- and cereal-based products are two major food types that seem to contribute the highest amounts of acrylamide to the diet worldwide. To meet both the demand for gluten-free products and the interest in alternative grains, we previously developed recipes for flatbreads using a variety of different grains. In this study, we determined the acrylamide content of 15 experimental flatbreads made from a variety of flours and 21 commercial flatbreads. The application of a validated, highly sensitive HPLC/MS method revealed that flatbreads made with the following flours baked at 195.5 °C for 2 min had very low (<10 μg/kg) levels of acrylamide: brown rice, buckwheat, cornmeal, millet, oat, and quinoa. The acrylamide levels of the following flatbreads were 14 to 59 μg/kg: rye, sorghum, soy, wheat, commercial pita, pita crackers, pizza, naan, and lavash. Wheat-based matzo breads, which are rapidly baked to a crisp texture at high heat (∼400 °C), contained 101 to 504 μg/kg acrylamide. Potato-based products were some of the highest of the products tested, ranging from 153 (potato pancakes) to 2,070 (potato-containing gluten-free matzos) μg/kg acrylamide. Except for the potato-containing products, the flatbreads made in this study were lower in acrylamide content (<3 to 21.3 μg/kg) than any of the commercial products tested. Of these experimental flatbreads, wheat- and sorghum-based products were the highest. Flatbreads from alternative grains can result in gluten-free products with high nutritional value and less acrylamide. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Acrylamide formation is dependent on both the composition of the food product and the method of cooking. Flatbreads have the potential to be high in acrylamide due to cooking methods which lead to the development of desirable browning products. Flatbreads developed in this study using alternative and ancient grains were mostly lower in acrylamide content than their wheat counterpart, suggesting that they can serve as a low-acrylamide, gluten-free functional food.

Intellectual modifying a bare glassy carbon electrode to fabricate a novel and ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor: Application to determination of acrylamide in food samples

Acrylamide (AA) is a neurotoxin and carcinogen which is mainly formed in foods containing large quantities of starch processed at high temperatures and its determination is very important to control the quality of foods. In this work, a novel electrochemical biosensor based on hemoglobin-dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide (HG-DDAB)/platinum-gold-palladium three metallic alloy nanoparticles (PtAuPd NPs)/chitosan-1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (Ch-IL)/multiwalled carbon nanotubes-IL (MWCNTs-IL)/glassy carbon electrode (GCE) is proposed for ultrasensitive determination of AA in food samples. Development of the biosensor is based on forming an adduct by the reaction of AA with α-NH₂ group of N-terminal valine of HG which decreases the peak current of HG-Fe⁺³ reduction. The modifications were characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic (EDS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Under optimized conditions, the biosensor detected AA by square wave voltammetry (SWV) in two linear concentration ranges of 0.03-39.0nM and 39.0-150.0nM with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.01nM. The biosensor was able to selective detection of AA even in the presence of high concentrations of common interferents which confirmed that the biosensor is highly selective. Also, the results obtained from further studies confirmed that the proposed biosensor has a short response time (less than 8s), good sensitivity, long term stability, repeatability, and reproducibility. Finally, the proposed biosensor was successfully applied to determine AA in potato chips and its results were comparable to those obtained by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as reference method.

Determination of Heterocyclic Amines and Acrylamide in Agricultural Products with Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and acrylamide are unintended hazardous substances generated by heating or processing of foods and are known as carcinogenic and mutagenic agents by the animal experiments. A simple method was established for a rapid and accurate determination of 12 types of HCAs (IQ, MeIQ, Glu-P-1, Glu-P-2, MeIQx, Trp-P-1, Trp-P-2, PhIP, AαC, MeAαC, Harman and Norharman) and acrylamide in three food matrices (non-fat liquid, non-fat solid and fat solid) by isotope dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In every sample, a mixture of internal standards including IQ-d3, MeIQx-d3, PhIP-d3, Trp-P-2-(13)C2-(15)N and MeAαC-d3 was spiked for quantification of HCAs and (13)C3-acrylamide was also spiked for the analysis of acrylamide. HCAs and acrylamide in sample were extracted with acetonitrile and water, respectively, and then two solid-phase extraction cartridges, ChemElut: HLB for HCAs and Accucat: HLB for acrylamide, were used for efficiently removing interferences such as pigment, lipid, polar, nonpolar and ionic compounds. Established method was validated in terms of recovery, accuracy, precision, limit of detection, limit of quantitation, and linearity. This method showed good precision (RSD < 20%), accuracy (71.8~119.1%) and recovery (66.0~118.9%). The detection limits were < 3.1 ng/g for all analytes. The correlation coefficients for all the HCAs and acrylamide were > 0.995, showing excellent linearity. These methods for the detection of HCAs and acrylamide by LC-MS/MS were applied to real samples and were successfully used for quantitative monitoring in the total diet study and this can be applied to risk assessment in various food matrices.