What is Acrymalide?

Acrymalide is a chemical compound that forms naturally in high-carbohydrate foods when frying, baking and roasting them at very hight temperatures, it is not something added to food and it does not come from packaging or enviroment. It forms mainly in foods made from plants. Latest studies shows that acrylamide causes cancer in laboratory animals when feeding them high levels of acrymalide, there have been lots of worries about wether or not this chemical may pose a health risk to humans if comsuming acrymalide at much lower levels.

What Foods Contain Acrylamide?

Potato chips and french fries have the highest levels of acrymalide. But also some cereal products, coffee and toast have acrymalide but much lower levels.

Some people may ask why coffee contain acrymalide??! because coffee beans are toasted at high temperature levels, at this time acrymalide forms in coffee not when it’s brewed at home or at the coffee shop.

Reducing acrymalide in home-cooked foods.

• make sure you are not overcooking high carbohydrate foods when frying, toasting or baking them.
• cook your french fries or baked potatoes to golden-yellow rather than golden-brown color.
• toast your bread to the lightest color acceptable.

Frying method has the highest acrymalide levels, so try to fry your food at lower temperatures and avoid heavy crisping or burning. But try to base your diet on consuming unsaturated healthy fats, avoid trans fat and all kinds of saturated fats to stay in good health far away from high cholesterol and high LDL (bad cholesterol) levels.

When you grill your food try to turn the food from time to time to avoid charring, if it happens just cut the charred parts before eating.

Cooking potato by boiling or steaming do not contain high levels of acrymalide, beacause the temperature in these 2 methods are not high enough to form acrymalide.

Soaking raw potatoes in water for 15- 30 min before frying or roasting helps to reduce formation of acrymalide. One more thing the duration of cooking has also a big effect on forming acrymalide in food so try not to cook your food for a long period of time at high temperatures.

At last there are lots of ongoing studies to check acrymalide effects on human health but until then try to avoid acrymalide as we mentioned previously.

To view the frequent asked questions about acrymalide click here FDA