Acrylamide in potato chips in Iran, health risk assessment and mitigation

This study aimed to determine the acrylamide content in potato chips sold in Kermanshah, Iran and assess the potential health concerns associated with acrylamide exposure. HPLC-DAD was used to analyse 120 samples across 40 brands. The possible non-carcinogenic risk index for adults was below 1 for all 40 brands (100%), but for children it was only below 1 for 9 brands (22.5%) and above 1 for 31 brands (77.5%). Regarding the possible carcinogenic risk index, for adults only 1 out of 40 brands rated > 10-4, whereas for children all brands rated > 10-4. This shows that children's exposure to acrylamide through potato chips consumption in Kermanshah can be considered a risk on cancer and exposure of adults requires attention and monitoring. The best way to reduce acrylamide in potato chips and associated health risks is to improve the production process, especially temperature and time.

Dietary Acrylamide Intake and the Risk of Pancreatic Cancer: The Japan Public Health Center-Based Prospective Study

Acrylamide is a probable carcinogen in humans. Few studies have assessed dietary acrylamide intake and the risk of pancreatic cancer; however, these studies are based on Western populations. Our purpose was to investigate the association of dietary acrylamide intake with the risk of pancreatic cancer utilizing data from the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study. We evaluated the data of 89,729 participants aged 45-74 years, who replied to a questionnaire on past medical history and lifestyle habits from 1995-1998. Dietary acrylamide intake was estimated utilizing a validated food frequency questionnaire. We calculated the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals by using Cox proportional-hazards regression models. The average follow-up was 15.2 years, and 576 cases of pancreatic cancer were diagnosed. In the multivariate-adjusted model, an association between dietary acrylamide intake and pancreatic cancer risk was not demonstrated (hazard ratio for the highest vs. lowest quartile = 0.83, 95% confidence interval: 0.65-1.05, p for trend = 0.07). Furthermore, in the analyses stratified by sex, smoking status, coffee consumption, green tea consumption, alcohol consumption, and body mass index, no significant association was detected. Dietary acrylamide intake was not associated with the pancreatic cancer risk in Japanese individuals.

Dietary Acrylamide Intake and Risk of Lung Cancer: The Japan Public Health Center Based Prospective Study

Acrylamide, which forms in heat-treated foods with high carbohydrate content, is a probable human carcinogen. This study aimed to evaluate the association between dietary acrylamide intake and lung cancer using data from the Japan Public Health Center based Prospective Study. Our study included 85,303 participants who completed a food frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) after adjusting for confounders. After 14.3 years and 15.4 years of mean follow-up period, 1187 and 485 lung cancer cases were identified in men and women, respectively. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios of 10-µg/day increment in acrylamide intake were 1.01 (95% CI, 0.99–1.02) in men and 0.98 (95% CI, 0.95–1.02) in women. Compared with the lowest quartile of acrylamide intake, the hazard ratios for the highest quartile were 1.13 (95% CI, 0.95–1.33; p for trend = 0.12) in men and 1.03 (95% CI, 0.78–1.36; p for trend = 0.86) in women in the multivariable-adjusted model. Moreover, there was also no significant association observed in the stratified analysis for histological subtypes of lung cancer. This study demonstrated that dietary acrylamide intake was not associated with increased lung cancer risk in the Japanese population.

Variations in the estimated intake of acrylamide from food in the Japanese population

BACKGROUND

Due to concerns of carcinogenicity, it is necessary to assess long-term acrylamide exposure in individuals. Whether the available methods of estimating acrylamide intake can indicate long-term exposure remains unknown. We examined variations in the estimated dietary acrylamide intake of the Japanese population.

METHODS

The study included 240 participants aged 40-74 years who were a part of the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study for the Next Generation (JPHC-NEXT). Twelve-day dietary records (DRs) were collected over a one-year period, and food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) were collected twice during the year. Dietary acrylamide intake was estimated from an acrylamide content database. Within-individual variations and between-individual variations were calculated using the random effects model. A linear regression analysis was performed to identify foods with large between-individual variations.

RESULTS

The ratios of within-individual variance to between-individual variation were 3.2 for men and 4.3 for women. Days of DRs required to estimate the usual individual intake within 20% of the true mean intake with 95% confidence were 60 days for men and 66 days for women. Coffee/cocoa, potato, and green tea contributed to between-individual variations, in that order, and seven foods contributed to 93% of the between-individual variation.

CONCLUSIONS

Estimating the acrylamide intake using DRs requires an extended data collection period to estimate the intragroup ranking and habitual intake of individuals. Long-term exposure assessments should be based on methods with less potential for measurement errors, such as the use of biomarkers.

Dietary Acrylamide Intake and Risk of Esophageal, Gastric, and Colorectal Cancer: The Japan Public Health Center-Based Prospective Study

BACKGROUND

Acrylamide has been classified as a probable human carcinogen based chiefly on laboratory evidence. However, the influence of dietary acrylamide intake on risk of esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancer has not been extensively studied. We aimed to evaluate the association between dietary acrylamide intake and esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancer using data from the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study.

METHODS

Our study included 87,628 participants who completed a food-frequency questionnaire at enrollment in 1990 and 1993. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate hazards ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) after adjusting for confounding factors.

RESULTS

After 15.5, 15.3, and 15.3 mean years of follow-up for esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancer, we identified and analyzed 391 esophageal, 2,218 gastric, and 2,470 colorectal cancer cases, respectively. Compared with the lowest quintile of acrylamide intake, the multivariate HR for the highest quintile was 0.86 (95% CI, 0.53-1.39; P _trend = 0.814), 0.84 (95% CI, 0.69-1.01; P _trend = 0.301), and 0.93 (95% CI, 0.79-1.08; P _trend = 0.165) for esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancer, respectively, in the multivariable-adjusted model. Furthermore, no significant associations were observed when the participants were stratified by cancer subsites.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, this study demonstrated that dietary acrylamide intake was not associated with increased risk of esophageal, gastric, or colorectal cancer among the Japanese population.

IMPACT

It is the first time to assess the effect of dietary acrylamide intake on risk of digestive system cancer in Asian populations.

Validity of Estimated Acrylamide Intake by the Dietary Record Method and Food Frequency Questionnaire in Comparison with a Duplicate Method: A Pilot Study

Acrylamide, classified as a probable carcinogen to humans, forms during high- temperature cooking. Dietary exposure among the Japanese is unknown. To evaluate the validity of estimated acrylamide intake using a dietary record (DR) and the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in comparison with the duplicate diet method (DM) in a Japanese population. Design: A validation study was performed with 14 participants (age, 32-50 y; 11 women) from 11 households. Food samples were simultaneously collected for the DM and DR on the same day over 2 consecutive days. The FFQ was administered after collecting samples for the DM and DR. For the DM, dietary acrylamide was calculated from chemical analyses of each food. For the DR and FFQ, acrylamide intake for each food was calculated using the database of acrylamide contents of foods. Correlation coefficients were calculated using the Spearman rank method. Average acrylamide intake values calculated using the DM, DR, and FFQ were 0.106, 0.233, and 0.128 μg/kg body weight/d, respectively; these values showed a marginally positive correlation between the DM and DR (r=0.52), but a low correlation between the DM and FFQ (r=-0.011). For the DR, non-alcoholic drinks had the highest contribution, followed by confectionery and vegetables. For the DM, the contribution of confectionery was the highest, followed by vegetables and non-alcoholic drinks. In conclusion, the validity of acrylamide intake estimation using the DR was reasonably high when compared to the analytical value of the simultaneous DM. However, further improvement is required for estimating acrylamide intake using the FFQ.

Validity of a Self-administered Food Frequency Questionnaire for the Estimation of Acrylamide Intake in the Japanese Population: The JPHC FFQ Validation Study

BACKGROUND

Acrylamide, a probable carcinogen to humans, forms during high temperature cooking. Dietary exposure to acrylamide among the Japanese population is unknown. We aimed to establish and validate a method to assess acrylamide exposure among the Japanese population using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) from the Japan Public Health Center-based prospective study.

METHODS

Validation studies for the FFQ were conducted in 1994 (Cohort I, n = 215) and 1996 (Cohort II, n = 350). The 28-day dietary records (DRs) were collected over 1 year. The FFQ was distributed before and after DR collection. Data for acrylamide exposure were based on reported measurements in Japan, and calculations considered the cooking process for specific vegetables in a home setting. Spearman's rank correlation and weighted kappa coefficients were calculated from energy-adjusted data.

RESULTS

Mean acrylamide intake levels estimated from DRs for Cohorts I and II were 6.78 (standard deviation [SD], 3.89) µg/day and 7.25 (SD, 3.33) µg/day, and corresponding levels estimated from the FFQ were 7.03 (SD, 4.30) µg/day and 7.14 (SD, 3.38) µg/day, respectively. Deattenuated correlation coefficients for men and women were 0.54 and 0.48 in Cohort I and 0.40 and 0.37 in Cohort II, respectively. Weighted kappa coefficients were over 0.80 in all cases. The main contributing food groups from DRs were beverages, confectioneries, vegetables, potatoes and starches, and cereals.

CONCLUSIONS

High kappa values validate the use of FFQ in epidemiological studies. The marked contribution of cooked vegetables indicates the importance of considering household cooking methods in assessing acrylamide intake levels in the Japanese population.

Dietary acrylamide intake and the risk of endometrial or ovarian cancers in Japanese women

A meta-analysis published in 2015 noted a marginally increased risk of endometrial and ovarian cancers in non-smoking women with dietary acrylamide intake, but only a few studies were included, and they were limited to Western countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between dietary acrylamide intake and endometrial or ovarian cancer risk in the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study (JPHC Study). In this prospective cohort study, 47 185 participants aged 45-74 years at the follow-up starting point in the JPHC Study were enrolled. Dietary acrylamide intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). In participants with endometrial and ovarian cancer, the average follow-up periods were 15.5 and 15.6 years, respectively, and 161 and 122 cases of endometrial and ovarian cancer were diagnosed, respectively. Energy-adjusted dietary acrylamide intake was negatively associated with endometrial cancer, but the association disappeared after adjusting for coffee consumption with an adjusted HR for the highest vs lowest tertile of 0.85 (95%CI: 0.54-1.33). No association was observed, however, for ovarian cancer (adjusted HR, 0.77; 95%CI: 0.49-1.23). Furthermore, after stratifying by smoking status, coffee consumption, alcohol consumption, body mass index, and menopause status, no association was observed. Dietary acrylamide intake was not associated with the risk of endometrial or ovarian cancer in Japanese women with a relatively lower dietary intake of acrylamide compared with Western populations.

Dietary acrylamide intake and risk of breast cancer: The Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study

Acrylamide forms during cooking and is classified as a probable carcinogen in humans, mandating the need for epidemiological studies of dietary acrylamide and cancers. However, the risk of dietary acrylamide exposure to breast cancer in Japanese women has not been assessed. We investigated the association between dietary acrylamide intake and risk of breast cancer in the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study. The present study included 48 910 women aged 45-74 years who responded to a 5-year follow-up survey questionnaire. Dietary acrylamide intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. During an average of 15.4 years of follow up, 792 breast cancers were diagnosed. Energy-adjusted dietary acrylamide intake was not associated with the risk of breast cancer (adjusted hazard ratio for highest versus lowest tertile = .95, 95% confidence intervals: 0.79-1.14, P-trend = .58). Further, no significant associations were observed when stratified analyses were conducted by smoking status, coffee consumption, alcohol consumption, body mass index, menopausal status, estrogen receptor status, and progesterone receptor status. In conclusion, dietary acrylamide intake was not associated with the risk of breast cancer in this population-based prospective cohort study of Japanese women.

Examination of Conditions Inhibiting the Formation of Acrylamide in the Model System of Fried Potato

Acrylamide (AAm) is produced in food through the reaction of asparagine and reducing sugar. We examined several methods of reducing the level of AAm using potato tubers. The fried model system that we employed consisted of thin slices that were first treated in water under different conditions before frying. A sufficient amount of water present in the fry material acts as an inhibitor against the formation of AAm and allows only a negligible amount of AAm to form. It was found that given the low content of water, the fry material temperature was sufficiently high to allow a relatively large level of AAm to form. Examination of water treatment prior to frying revealed that higher-temperature treatment water and longer treatment time resulted in the formation of lower levels of AAm. Moreover, removing some of the residual heat had an inhibiting effect on the formation of AAm.

Occurrence and analytical methods of acrylamide in heat-treated foods. Review and recent developments

In early 2002, Swedish National Food Administration (SNFA) and University of Stockholm together announced that certain foods that are processed or cooked at high temperature contain relatively high levels of acrylamide. The occurrence of acrylamide is derived from heat-induced reactions between the amino group of asparagine and the carbonyl group of reducing sugars during baking and frying. Corresponding chromatographic methods are used to determine various structural groups present during this process. Gas chromatography (GC)-mass spectrometry (MS) and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis are both acknowledged as the major useful and authoritative methods for the acrylamide determination and other chromatographic methods are also briefly introduced. The aim of this review is to summarize the state-of-the-art about the occurrence, analytical methods, and extraction and clean-up procedures of acrylamide. Special attention is given to chromatographic techniques applied for the occurrence and determination of acrylamide.

Formation of acrylamide in a processed food model system, and examination of inhibitory conditions

Acrylamide (AAm) is formed from asparagine (Asn) and reducing sugar during cooking of foods at high temperature. We examined the formation of AAm in a model system using a glass fiber filter paper, and looked for suitable conditions for inhibiting AAm formation. In frying, the formation rate was about 10 times that in a moistureless oven. Increase of frying temperature and frying time increased AAm formation when the residual moisture was 5% or less. AAm increased with increasing amount of glucose (Glc) addition up to 1:1 with respect to Asn, but then decreased. On the other hand, in the case of fructose, as the amount added was increased, AAm increased accordingly. The AAm formation rate with respect to Asn increased when valine (Val) was co-present in a Glc and Asn reaction system. Cysteine and lysine inhibited the AAm formation rate. Pathways for the formation of AAm are proposed.

Application of Ion-trap LC/MS/MS for Determination of Acrylamide in Processed Foods

Ion-trap LC/MS/MS was evaluated for use in the determination of acrylamide (AA) in processed foods. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) analysis of a series of AA standard solutions containing deuterium-labeled acrylamide (AA-d3) as an internal standard was performed. A linear relationship between the concentration of AA and the ratio of peak area (AA/AA-d3) in the extracted ion chromatogram (m/z 55, 58 derived from m/z 72, 75, respectively) was obtained over a wide range of 2-20,000 ng/mL. The quantification limit of AA was 2 ng/mL. In analyses of 37 commercial foods, AA was detected in a potato snack at the maximum value of 3,570 ng/g and found in 23 foods prepared or cooked at high temperature. The samples were analyzed in triplicate and the relative standard deviations (RSD) were less than 15% in many processed foods.

Analysis of acrylamide by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS in processed Japanese foods

Acrylamide concentrations in processed foods (63 samples covering 31 product types) from Japan were analysed by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS methods. The limit of detection and limit of quantification of acrylamide were 0.2 ng x ml(-1) (6 fmol) and 0.8 ng x ml(-1) (22 fmol), respectively, by LC-MS/MS, and those of 2,3-dibromopropionamide derived from acrylamide were 12 ng x ml(-1) (52 fmol) and 40 ng x ml(-1) (170 fmol), respectively, by GC-MS. Repeatability given as RSD was <5 and <15% for the LC-MS/MS and GC-MS methods, respectively. High correlation (r(2) - 0.946) was observed between values obtained by the two methods. Most potato crisps and whole potato-based fried snacks showed acrylamide concentrations >1000 microg x kg(-1). The concentrations in non-whole potato-based snacks, rice crackers processed by grilling or frying, and candied sweet potatoes were lower compared with those in the potato crisps and the whole potato-based fried snacks. One of the whole potato-based fried snacks, however, showed low acrylamide concentration (<50 microg x kg(-1)) suggesting the formation of acrylamide is strongly influenced by processing conditions. Acrylamide concentrations in instant precooked noodles and won-tons were <100 microg x kg(-1) with only one exception. Roasted barley grains for 'Mugi-cha' tea contained 200-600 microg x kg(-1) acrylamide.

Determination of Acrylamide in Processed Foods by Column-switching HPLC with UV Detection

A simple and convenient analytical method for the determination of acrylamide in processed foods was established. Acrylamide was extracted with water in an ultrasonic bath. The extract was passed through an OASIS HLB cartridge and the eluate was injected into the HPLC system using a column-switching technique. The HPLC system consisted of two pumps, two 6-port-2-position valves, two columns and a UV detector. At first, the sample solution was chromatographed on an ODS column with a mobile phase of water, then the flow of the mobile phase was switched using a 6-port-2-position valve, and the acrylamide peak fraction was introduced into an aqueous gel permeation column (analytical column). The fraction was chromatographed again on the analytical column with a mobile phase of water, and the eluate was monitored with a UV detector (205 nm). The recoveries of acrylamide from potato chips, fried potato, croquette and instant noodle fortified at levels of 50 to 1,000 micrograms/kg were 93.1 to 101.5% and the coefficient of variation was 1.5 to 5.2%. The detection limit corresponded to 10 micrograms/kg in processed foods. Forty-six samples, potato chips (11), fried potato (10), croquette (20) and instant noodle (5), were analyzed by this method. The acrylamide level was 67-4,499 micrograms/kg for potato chips, 125-1,183 micrograms/kg for fried potato, nd-255 micrograms/kg for croquette and nd-151 micrograms/kg for instant noodle.