Measurement and Control of Acrylamide in Production Processes

Recent press reports on the problem of acrylamide in food products, observing the potential linkage between it and cancer in humans are common. The increasing nature of these articles serves to raise public awareness. The food industry and industry bodies have acted on these justifiable concerns and have produced technical guidance to manufacturers to reduce acrylamide levels. Safe limits are not yet specified, leaving it to the industry to achieve ALARA as the target. This is clearly a moving target as technology develops and new opportunities arise and the onus is on the industry to achieve reductions. One of the real challenges faced has been the complexity of the supply chain / manufacturing process and the inability to measure acrylamide other than with considerable delay in a laboratory. This project will investigate approaches for growing potatoes in a manner that reduce their potential to produce acrylamide. It will also derive better online measurement / estimation and how information from the supply chain and manufacturing line can be used to reduce levels of acrylamide in manufactured potato products. Subsequently the project will deliver improved measurement and control providing increased confidence to the consumer in the safety of potato and potato-derived products alongside bread and cereals.