What is acrylamide and what is the problem reported by the Stockholm University and the Swedish National Food Administration?
Acrylamide is a “probable human carcinogen” according to international assessments. A group of scientists at the University of Stockholm have found that acrylamide is formed during the heating of starch foods to high temperatures. It had been assumed that the primary exposure for acrylamide in the general population was through drinking water and tobacco smoking. The exposure via drinking water is small and the European Union has determined maximum levels of 0.1 microgram per liter water. Acrylamide is water soluble and quickly absorbed in the digestive tract. The excretion via urine is fast and half of the acrylamide is cleared from the body in a few hours. Acrylamide is known to cause DNA damage, and at high doses neurological and reproductive effects have been observed. The actual dose causing neurological effects in humans is difficult to assess but is probably several times higher that the average acrylamide intake from food. The actual study has not yet been published in a peer-r
