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November 3, 2006
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) has updated Pesticides, Metals, Chemical Contaminants & Natural Toxins with new information related to acrylamide and furan in foods. More specifically, new data on the levels of these substances in food and revised methodology for the detection of furan in foods have been added to this CFSAN webpage.
Acrylamide is a substance that forms in certain foods during some high-temperature cooking practices, such as frying and baking. Acrylamide causes cancer in laboratory animals at high doses, and is therefore a potential human carcinogen. Since the discovery of acrylamide in food in 2002, FDA has initiated a broad range of surveillance and research activities related to acrylamide. CFSAN recently posted acrylamide levels detected in approximately 100 food samples from FDA's FY2006 Total Diet Study (TDS). Acrylamide levels detected in approximately 2600 food samples are now available on CFSAN's web site. Several months ago, FDA posted a 2006 update to its Exposure Assessment for Acrylamide, based on data available at that time. The estimated mean intake of acrylamide for U.S. consumers (ages 2 and over) is reported at 0.4 µg/kg-bw/d based on the 2006 assessment. Two previous acrylamide exposure assessments, conducted in 2003 and 2004, resulted in the same estimated mean intake value for acrylamide as that reported in 2006.
Like acrylamide, furan is a substance that can form in certain foods during heat processing, most notably canning. Furan also causes cancer in laboratory animals at high doses, and is therefore a potential human carcinogen. CFSAN recently posted the furan levels detected in more than 250 food samples, including breads, crackers, gravies, and snacks. Furan levels detected in approximately 600 food samples are now available on CFSAN's web site. FDA has also posted a revised version of its furan method titled "Determination of Furan in Foods." The headspace incubation temperature has been lowered from that in the original method of 80 °C to 60 °C. This modification was made after FDA scientists determined that very small amounts of furan (< 3ng/g) can form in certain high-fat food samples during incubation at 80 °C. FDA plans to perform additional research to evaluate the effects of this incubation temperature change on other foods, although only very minor differences are expected. A companion document to the revised furan method document, titled "Method Ruggedness Testing," has also been posted on CFSAN's website and discusses in detail the reason for the incubation temperature change.
FDA continues to advise consumers to eat a balanced diet, choosing a variety of foods that are low in trans fat and saturated fat, and rich in high-fiber grains, fruits and vegetables.
