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FDA'S FOODS ADVISORY COMMITTEE DISCUSSES
ACRYLAMIDE IN FOOD

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today released exploratory data on acrylamide levels found in a variety of foods that will be reviewed with other information by the Contaminants and Natural Toxicants Subcommittee of the Food Advisory Committee, December 4th and 5th. FDA is releasing exploratory test results in the spirit of openness and transparency. The findings released are generally similar to the results made available last September at a public meeting FDA held to unveil its draft action plan for acrylamide.
FDA continues to find a wide variety of acrylamide levels in foods. The data show that some foods have very little or no acrylamide present, while test results from other foods continue to confirm the presence of acrylamide.

The FDA is also releasing new data showing a correlation between acrylamide levels and the length of time the food is cooked and the temperature at which the food is cooked.

FDA tested these foods to gather preliminary results about the presence of acrylamide in U.S. foods, and not to evaluate levels in individual products. These sample results cannot and should not be generalized or used to reach conclusions about acrylamide levels in particular brands of foods. These samples are also not statistically representative of specific foods or brands.

Research on the formation of acrylamide in foods and FDA’s most recent product testing have confirmed earlier results regarding variability within foods that were previously tested. There is substantial variability among types of foods, products and within individual brand name products.

Because of the substantial variability observed so far in FDA’s exploratory survey, and the limited numbers of samples analyzed per food category and brand, one cannot and should not conclude that acrylamide levels in any given brand are higher than those of another brand. Further research is needed to understand the formation of acrylamide and what the variation in acrylamide levels means in terms of exposure and potential risk from acrylamide in particular foods or brands.

Acrylamide is a known animal carcinogen at high dose levels. It is not known whether acrylamide causes cancer in humans or animals at the very low levels found in foods.

Because the information available at this point is incomplete, and the data exploratory, consumers should not use these results made available today to avoid specific brands of food or even a particular kind of food. Rather, FDA continues to advise consumers to eat a balanced diet consisting of a variety of foods that are low in trans fat and saturated fat, and rich in high fiber grains, fruits and vegetables.

FDA is committed to improving our knowledge of any potential risks of acrylamide in foods as quickly as possible. The agency is building a strong research agenda aimed at understanding the risk to consumers and how to reduce the level of acrylamide found in foods. The advisory subcommittee will review this research agenda for its adequacy in reaching these desired outcomes. The exploratory data on acrylamide levels found in the foods FDA has tested are available on the world wide web at the following address: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/acrydata.html.

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