FDA Issues Draft Guidance on Reducing Acrylamides

Acrylamide is found primarily in potato-based foods, cereal-based foods, and coffee and is classified by the National Toxicology Program as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week issued draft guidance for the food industry to help growers, manufacturers and food service operators take steps to reduce levels of acrylamide in certain foods. Since acrylamide is found primarily in potato-based foods, cereal-based foods, and coffee, the FDA said it was issuing the draft guidance to support any food industry sectors that have taken a wait-and-see approach, and to also help all companies, particularly smaller ones with fewer resources, reduce acrylamide in products susceptible to its formation.

The FDA’s draft guidance recommends that companies be aware of the levels of acrylamide in the foods they produce, consider adopting approaches if feasible to reduce acrylamide in their products, and it also offers a range of possible approaches that growers, manufacturers and food service operators can take to help reduce acrylamide levels.

This new draft guidance is just part of a larger push by the FDA to study acrylamide in food, and help manage potential risks to human health, which includes additional data on acrylamide levels in certain foods based on its recent data collection and analysis. To read more, click HERE.

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