Do you like toast a bit stale, even a little burnt? Or the potatoes too fried or too fried? You may need to review your culinary preferences, because the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency (FSA) warns that excessive roasting or frying generates acrylamide, a chemical formed by the reaction between amino acids and sugars that, according to several studies, cause tumors in animals.
Research on the effect of this compound in people is inconclusive. The British organization Cancer Research indicates that there is no evidence of the relationship between cancer and acrylamide in humans, but FSA scientists think that this carcinogenic potential could affect us as well, and recommend reducing exposure to acrylamide, something in which they agree the United States National Cancer Institute and WHO.
What foods contain acrylamide?
Those that are rich in starch and have been cooked at temperatures above 120 ºC: toast, baked and fried potatoes, cereals, cookies, coffee … It must be emphasized that acrylamide is not an added compound, but a product natural part of normal food handling processes. It can also be generated in some root vegetables and tubers cooked at high temperatures: carrots, onions, garlic, leeks, turnips …
Precautionary measures
To reduce the presence of acrylamide in the foods that we usually have at home, FSA experts recommend above all not to burn the toast too much: the blacker its color, the more of this substance it contains. This rule can also be applied when frying, roasting or roasting potatoes and root vegetables, which should never go beyond a slightly golden hue.
They also emphasize the importance of following the cooking instructions on the packaging of these products (they always recommend not cooking foods rich in starch at very high temperatures or for too long), following a varied and balanced diet, and not storing potatoes in the fridge if we plan to fry or roast them at high temperatures: in the cold, these tubers generate sugars that are converted into acrylamide when cooked.
