TODAY THE FDA ISSUED THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT BY DEPUTY COMMISSIONER DR. LESTER M. CRAWFORD ON ACRYLAMIDES IN FOOD

Three Food and Drug Administration scientists with expertise in food safety and cancer risk assessment participated this week in the World Health Organization's expert consultation on the public health impact of acrylamide in foods. FDA will carefully analyze the report being issued following the meeting.

This analysis will be an integral part of FDA's on-going assessment of the scope and significance of the presence of acrylamide in foods. As it works to ensure that the safety of the U.S. food supply is second to none, FDA has developed its own methodology to measure levels of acrylamide in foods and recently made this methodology available on its website so that other researchers can review and use it. The agency is currently analyzing several different foods and is broadening its testing to a wider range of foods.

At present the data on acrylamide are not sufficient for FDA to make a final determination regarding the public
health impact of these preliminary findings. FDA is unaware of any present data regarding acrylamide that would cause FDA to alter its current dietary recommendations for consumers. As further data are received, FDA's recommendations could change. For now, FDA continues to advise consumers to follow established dietary guidelines and eat a healthy, balanced diet consisting of a wide variety of foods from a variety of sources.

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