Acrylamide Reduction Strategy in Combination with Deoxynivalenol Mitigation in Industrial Biscuits Production

Dietary Acrylamide: A Detailed Review on Formation, Detection, Mitigation, and Its Health Impacts

In today's fast-paced world, people increasingly rely on a variety of processed foods due to their busy lifestyles. The enhanced flavors, vibrant colors, and ease of accessibility at reasonable prices have made ready-to-eat foods the easiest and simplest choice to satiate hunger, especially those that undergo thermal processing. However, these foods often contain an unsaturated amide called 'Acrylamide', known by its chemical name 2-propenamide, which is a contaminant formed when a carbohydrate- or protein-rich food product is thermally processed at more than 120 °C through methods like frying, baking, or roasting. Consuming foods with elevated levels of acrylamide can induce harmful toxicity such as neurotoxicity, hepatoxicity, cardiovascular toxicity, reproductive toxicity, and prenatal and postnatal toxicity. This review delves into the major pathways and factors influencing acrylamide formation in food, discusses its adverse effects on human health, and explores recent techniques for the detection and mitigation of acrylamide in food. This review could be of interest to a wide audience in the food industry that manufactures processed foods. A multi-faceted strategy is necessary to identify and resolve the factors responsible for the browning of food, ensure safety standards, and preserve essential food quality traits.

Formulation and Processing Strategies to Reduce Acrylamide in Thermally Processed Cereal-Based Foods

Acrylamide, a thermal process contaminant, is generated in carbohydrate-rich foods processed at high temperatures (above 120 °C). Since acrylamide indicates a human health concern, the acrylamide contents of various foods and the dietary exposure of the population to acrylamide are very well investigated. Commonly consumed foods in the daily diet of individuals such as bakery products, potato products and coffee are major dietary sources of acrylamide. In recent years, dietary exposure levels of the population and mitigation measures for reducing acrylamide in different food products have gained importance to decrease the public's exposure to acrylamide. Since the complete elimination of acrylamide in foods is not possible, various mitigation measures to reduce acrylamide to levels as low as reasonably achievable have been developed and applied in the food industry. Mitigation strategies should be applied according to the different product categories during agricultural production, formulation, processing and final consumer preparation stages. The aim of this review is to evaluate formulation and processing strategies to reduce acrylamide in various cereal-based food products and to discuss the applicability of mitigation measures in the food industry by taking into consideration the organoleptic properties, nutritional value, cost and regulations in the light of current knowledge.

The role of additives on acrylamide formation in food products: a systematic review

Acrylamide (AA) is a toxic substance formed in many carbohydrate-rich food products, whose formation can be reduced by adding some additives. Furthermore, the type of food consumed determines the AA intake. According to the compiled information, the first route causing AA formation is the Maillard reaction. Some interventions, such as reducing AA precursors in raw materials, (i.e., asparagine), reducing sugars, or decreasing temperature and processing time can be applied to limit AA formation in food products. The L-asparaginase is more widely used in potato products. Also, coatings loaded with proteins, enzymes, and phenolic compounds are new techniques for reducing AA content. Enzymes have a reducing effect on AA formation by acting on asparagine; proteins by competing with amino acids to participate in Maillard, and phenolic compounds through their radical scavenging activity. On the other hand, some synthetic and natural additives increase the formation of AA. Due to the high exposure to AA and its toxic effects, it is essential to recognize suitable food additives to reduce the health risks for consumers. In this sense, this study focuses on different additives that are proven to be effective in the reduction or formation of AA in food products.

Cytochrome P450 enzymes mediated by DNA methylation is involved in deoxynivalenol-induced hepatoxicity in piglets

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is an inevitable contaminant in animal feed and can lead to liver damage, then decreasing appetite and causing growth retardation in piglets. Although many molecular mechanisms are related to hepatoxicity caused by DON, few studies have been done on cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes and DNA methylation. To explore the role of CYP450 enzymes and DNA methylation in DON-induced liver injury, male piglets were fed a control diet, or diet containing 1.0 or 3.0 mg/kg DON for 4 weeks. DON significantly raised the activity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) (P < 0.01), leading to liver injury. In vivo study found that DON exposure increased the expression of CYP450 enzymes (such as CYP1A1, CYP2E1, CYP3A29) (P < 0.05), and disturbed the expression of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT), galanin-like peptide (GALP) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) (P < 0.05), in which DNA methylation affected the expression of these genes. In vitro study (human normal hepatocytes L02) further proved that DON elevated the expression of CYP1A1, CYP2E1 and CYP3A4 (P < 0.05), and inhibited cell growth in a dose-dependent manner, resulting in cell necrosis. More importantly, knockdown of CYP1A1 or CYP2E1 could alleviate DON-induced growth inhibition by promoting IGF-1 expression. Taken together, increased CYP450 enzymes expression was one of the mechanisms of hepatoxicity and growth inhibition induced by DON, suggesting that the decrease of CYP450 enzymes can antagonize the hepatoxicity in animals, which provides some value for animal feed safety.

Acrylamide in widely consumed foods - a review

Acrylamide (AA) is considered genotoxic, neurotoxic and a 'probable human carcinogen'. It is included in group 2 A of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The formation of AA occurs when starch-based foods are subjected to temperatures higher than 120 °C in an atmosphere with very low water content. The aim of this review is to shed light on the toxicological aspects of AA, showing its regulatory evolution, and describing the most interesting mitigation techniques for each food category involved, with a focus on compliance with EU legislation in the various classes of consumer products of industrial origin in Europe.

Degradation evaluation of acrylamide in advanced oxidation processes based on theoretical method: Mechanisms, kinetics, toxicity evaluation and the role of soil particles

Acrylamide (AA) is now recognized as an imminent hazardous chemical in the aqueous environment, causing a potential threat to human health. As a neo-formed contaminant (NFC), the degradation measure of AA is largely lacking. In this work, we used quantum chemistry and experimental methods to identify the main degradation mechanism of AA in the UV/H₂O₂ advanced oxidation process (AOP) for the first time. Radical addition reactions dominate the •OH-initiated AA reaction, resulting in few toxic nitrosamines formation. The interaction between AA and the surface model of soil particles (Si_xO_y(OH)_z) is weak, and AA can rapidly migrate down to groundwater via seepage. However, the total rate constants of AA and COM_ADS2-AA with •OH are 2.75 × 10⁹ and 2.09 × 10⁹ M^-1 s^-1, and the removal of AA from aqueous and heterogeneous systems reaches 62.30% and 62.05% within 2 h. Whether in the aqueous-phase or on the surface of soil particles, •OH initiated AA reaction is an efficient way to remove AA. Furthermore, the toxicity of the main by-products of AA show less harmful to three aquatic organisms and rats than AA. UV/H₂O₂ AOP is evaluated as an efficient method to degrade AA while decreasing harm.

Processing contaminants in wheat-based foods - a systematic review, meta-analysis and bibliometric analysis

Wheat is one of the main cereals grown around the world and is the basis for several foods such as bread, cakes and pasta. The consumption of these foods raises a concern with food safety, as toxic substances such as acrylamide, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are formed during their processing. To assess the occurrence of processing contaminants in wheat-based foods, a systematic search was carried out in four databases: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus. Of the 1479 results, 28 were included for a meta-analysis. Most studies (69.7%) evaluated acrylamide in bread, cookies, and pasta, while PAHs (26.2%) were determined mainly in wheat grains and pasta. HMF was the least determined contaminant (4.1%), with only four studies on cookies included in the meta-analysis. The highest concentration was for acrylamide (136.29 µg·kg-1) followed by HMF (70.59 µg·kg-1) and PAHs (0.11 µg·kg-1). Acrylamide is the main processing contaminant researched, and no studies on the subject have been found in commercial samples in some regions of the world. This result shows a gap in the dates available about process contaminants in wheat-based foods and how the levels can change depending on the process parameters and the ingredients used.

Biscuit Contaminants, Their Sources and Mitigation Strategies: A Review

The scientific literature is rich in investigations on the presence of various contaminants in biscuits, and of articles aimed at proposing innovative solutions for their control and prevention. However, the relevant information remains fragmented. Therefore, the objective of this work was to review the current state of the scientific literature on the possible contaminants of biscuits, considering physical, chemical, and biological hazards, and making a critical analysis of the solutions to reduce such contaminations. The raw materials are primary contributors of a wide series of contaminants. The successive processing steps and machinery must be monitored as well, because if they cannot improve the initial safety condition, they could worsen it. The most effective mitigation strategies involve product reformulation, and the use of alternative baking technologies to minimize the thermal load. Low oxygen permeable packaging materials (avoiding direct contact with recycled ones), and reformulation are effective for limiting the increase of contaminations during biscuit storage. Continuous monitoring of raw materials, intermediates, finished products, and processing conditions are therefore essential not only to meet current regulatory restrictions but also to achieve the aim of banning dietary contaminants and coping with related diseases.

Acrylamide in Bakery Products: A Review on Health Risks, Legal Regulations and Strategies to Reduce Its Formation

Acrylamide is a contaminant as defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No 315/93 and as such, it is considered a chemical hazard in the food chain. The toxicity of acrylamide has been acknowledged since 2002, among its toxicological effects on humans being neurotoxicity, genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, and reproductive toxicity. Acrylamide has been classified as carcinogenic in the 2A group, with human exposure leading to progressive degeneration of the peripheral and central nervous systems characterized by cognitive and motor abnormalities. Bakery products (bread, crispbread, cakes, batter, breakfast cereals, biscuits, pies, etc.) are some of the major sources of dietary acrylamide. The review focuses on the levels of acrylamide in foods products, in particular bakery ones, and the risk that resulting dietary intake of acrylamide has on human health. The evolving legislative situation regarding the acrylamide content from foodstuffs, especially bakery ones, in the European Union is discussed underlining different measures that food producers must take in order to comply with the current regulations regarding the acrylamide levels in their products. Different approaches to reduce the acrylamide level in bakery products such as the use of asparginase, calcium salts, antioxidants, acids and their salts, etc., are described in detail.