Evaluation of acrylamide mitigation recipes on industrial production of French fries

In 2002 the Swedish scientists announced the presence of acrylamide in various foods. This contaminant which is classified by the IARC as “probably carcinogenic to humans” is formed in several heated foods and known to be linked to the Maillard reaction. Fried potato products are important in the acrylamide issue because they contain the main precursors necessary for its formation and moreover they contribute on average for an important part of the dietary exposure to this process contaminant, apart from other food commodities, including cereals products, coffee, chocolate and potato snacks. In the recent years, various mitigation strategies were developed by the scientific community in order to reduce this contaminant during frying but a review of industry practices was still lacking. This study evaluated various additives or processing aids on the industrial production of French fries, based on their acrylamide mitigation potential and other quality parameters. The application of acids, salts and asparaginase was evaluated on a industrial production line throughout the 2008 potato storage season. Despite some of the compounds seemed to significantly reduce the acrylamide content of the final product during laboratory experiments, their application on industrial scale did not result in further acrylamide reductions in pre-frozen French fries. Overall results suggest that current industrial practices in the pre-frozen French fries sector such as, selection of potato varieties with low reducing sugars contents, potato storage temperature above 8°C, blanching conditions and the acidifying effect of added sodium pyrophosphate already reduces considerably the acrylamide formation in French fries. The application of asparaginase was additionally tested in chilled French fries (not par-fried). Since for this product a longer period of time is allowed for enzyme-subtract contact, the enzyme treatment resulted in French fries with acrylamide levels below the LOD (12.5 µg kg-1) after three days of storage. These significant acrylamide reductions were obtained without affecting the shelf life of the product and sensorial properties of the French fries