A Review on Acrylamide Mitigation Strategies in Various Processed Foods.

Acrylamide chemically prop-2-enamide is a low molecular weight, colourless, odourless, crystalline vinylic compound and reactive in air. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified acrylamide as “probably carcinogenic to humans” based on evidence in animal studies. Acrylamide is present in significant quantities in carbohydrate rich foods such as potato chips, French fries and bakery products up to 7000 ppb followed by protein rich foods up to 400 ppb. Studies on mechanism of acrylamide formation in heat treated food revealed that acrylamide in food largely resulted from Maillard reaction between amino acid, asparagine and reducing sugars. Several research studies have been conducted worldwide to reduce acrylamide content in various food products. The review summarizes works carried out on the mitigation strategies of acrylamide with respect to deep fat fried foods, microwave heated foods, baked and roasted food products. The possible strategies of acrylamide reduction were grouped into four categories i.e., selection of raw materials, changing formulation and product composition without affecting the taste and preferences of consumers, pre-treatment procedures and optimized processing conditions.