Preparing for New Acrylamide Standards

Food operators will be required to put in place practical steps to manage acrylamide under new EU legislation entering into force April 11, 2018. This is what it means for baking businesses.

By Jaap van den Berg, Marketing Manager Fine Baking, DSM Food Specialties

We have already seen large, global food manufacturers who produce baked goods, snacks and cereals take significant steps to mitigate acrylamide in their products. This was kick-started by Proposition 65 in California (1986), which requires companies to inform consumers if their products contain acrylamide. This was around the time that scientific consensus emerged that acrylamide is a suspected carcinogen. Companies with a presence in the US acted to reduce acrylamide across their global offering, out of concern for consumer health and to protect their brand image. Food industry bodies such as FoodDrinkEurope have also campaigned among the industry to raise awareness for the subject and to promote the use of the mitigation measures available, providing resources including toolboxes.

On November 20, 2017, the new regulations were published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will become law in the EU.

There is, in effect, a four-month transition period in place now, which lasts until April 2018 to allow manufacturers and regulators time to adopt new processes. The legislation describes practical measures based on best practice guidance developed by the food industry to mitigate acrylamide formation in a range of foods.

Impact on Baking Businesses

The new regulation makes mitigation measures mandatory based on the ‘ALARA’ principle (as low as reasonably achievable). It uses benchmark levels – which are not maximum values – to monitor the presence of acrylamide.

This means manufacturers are required to implement a mitigation strategy in which they record the acrylamide levels of their products and take action that is reasonable for their company size to reduce these levels.

Acrylamide is a low molecular weight, highly water-soluble, organic compound which forms from the naturally occurring constituents asparagine and sugars in certain foods when prepared at temperatures typically higher than 120 °C and low moisture. It forms mainly in baked or fried carbohydrate-rich foods where raw materials contain its precursors, such as cereals, potatoes, and coffee beans.

The EU has already announced that the benchmark levels of acrylamide presence in foodstuffs will be reviewed by the Commission on a regular basis. This could result in sharpening of the benchmark values or that maximum levels could be set for certain product categories, with infant foods as a priority segment. The regulation includes a wide variety of foodstuffs, each with their own benchmark values.

According to ANNEX IV of the regulation, some of the values pertaining to baked goods include (in μg/kg): wheat-based bread – 50; soft bread other than wheat-based bread – 100; biscuits and wafers – 350; crackers – 400; crispbread – 350; gingerbread – 800; baby foods (40); and biscuits and rusks for children (150).

The regulation clearly describes requirements for at least annual representative sampling and analysis in a certified laboratory, to verify the effectiveness of mitigation measures. “The levels of acrylamide can be lowered by mitigation approach, such as the implementation of good hygiene practice and application of procedures based on hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) principles,” stipulates the Regulation’s paragraph 6.

Color as an Indicator of Acrylamide

Browning and acrylamide have always gone hand in hand: the Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between the amino acids (such as asparagine) and sugars in starchy foods when heated, which results in the browning of food and gives a distinctive flavor and aroma, but it also forms acrylamide. However, solutions like PreventASe® allow food producers to create products with the same taste, appearance, and texture, while hindering the formation of acrylamide altogether.

The Science in the Solution

DSM developed PreventASe®, an award-winning enzyme proven to substantially reduce acrylamide in a wide range of foods by up to 90% without affecting taste, appearance, or texture. It is categorized as a processing aid and does not require any significant process or recipe changes.

PreventASe® is an asparaginase, which converts the amino acid asparagine (found in potatoes, corn, soy, and whole grains, for example) into aspartic acid, from which no acrylamide can be formed during the Maillard reaction.

Depending on the end-application, ingredients and manufacturing process, acrylamide levels in products incorporating the solution can be reduced by up to 90%. Its effectiveness and, respectively, the degree of acrylamide reduction, is depending on factors such as mixing time and intensity, processing times, temperatures, and substrate accessibility.

PreventASe® is applicable in a wide range of food products like baked goods, snacks and (infant) cereals, and is suitable for many processing temperatures and pH levels. In most cases, PreventASe® can simply be added during mixing and does not require any significant process or recipe changes; in addition, it does not affect taste, appearance, or texture.

The Hard Acrylamide Case

The challenge for some traditional specialty products is that they are required to be made following strict guides, which makes acrylamide occurrence unavoidable. Still, as public awareness about acrylamide grows, supported by this new regulatory landscape, I expect the majority of food manufacturers will begin to include a low acrylamide level requirement into the basic design of new products, which is possible with solutions such as PreventASe® – an answer to acrylamide in many application areas.