Determination of acrylamide in food using a UPLC–MS/MS method: results of the official control and dietary exposure assessment in Cyprus

ABSTRACT

The determination of acrylamide in potato products, bakery products and coffee, and the human dietary exposure is reported. The method reported is based on a single extraction step with water, followed by the clean-up of the extract using solid phase extraction columns and finally, the determination of acrylamide using UPLC–MS/MS. The MS/MS detection was carried out using an ESI interface in positive ion mode. Internal calibration was used for the quantification of acrylamide, because of the suppression/enhancement matrix effects due to the complex nature of the samples. The method performance characteristics were determined after spiking blank samples. The mean recoveries in spiked coffee samples, potato chips, breakfast cereals and crispbread ranged from 93% to 99%, with RSDs lower than 5% for both repeatability and reproducibility conditions. The estimated limits of detection and quantification of the method were 10 and 32 μg kg⁻¹, respectively. The method was used for monitoring acrylamide in 406 samples. Acrylamide amounts ranged from <32 to 2450 μg kg⁻¹. A total of 360 samples (89%) were contaminated with acrylamide, but only 14% of the samples exceeded the benchmark levels of the EU legislation. Foods with the highest mean acrylamide amounts were potato crisps (642 μg kg⁻¹), French fries (383 μg kg⁻¹) and biscuits (353 μg kg⁻¹). The mean and 95th percentile acrylamide exposures of adolescents in Cyprus were 0.8 and 1.8 μg kg⁻¹ body weight per day, respectively. The estimated levels of dietary exposure to acrylamide are not of concern with respect to neurotoxicity. However, the margins of exposure (MOEs) indicate a concern for carcinogenicity. Potato fried products (45%), fine bakery ware (21%) and potato chips (14%) contributed the most to overall acrylamide exposure.

KEYWORDS:

• Acrylamide
• UPLC–MS/MS
• potatoes
• cereals
• coffee
• dietary exposure

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Cyprus Government and Ministry of Health for financial support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.