Acrylamide levels in selected Colombian foods

Abstract

Acrylamide (AA) levels in conventional (n = 112) and traditional (n = 43) Colombian foods were analysed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) detection. Samples included: infant powdered formula, coffee and chocolate powders, corn snacks, bakery products and tuber-, meat- and vegetable-based foods. There was a wide variability in AA levels among different foods and within different brands of the same food, especially for coffee powder, breakfast cereals biscuits and French fries samples. Among the conventional foods tested, the highest mean AA value was found in bakery products, such as biscuit (1104 µg kg⁻¹) and wafer (1449 µg kg⁻¹), followed by potato chips (916 µg kg⁻¹). On the other hand, among the traditional foods, higher AA amounts were detected in fried platano (2813 µg kg⁻¹) and yuca (3755 µg kg⁻¹) compared to other products. Interestingly, the arepa, a traditional Colombian bakery product made with corn flour, showed a lower AA content (< 75 µg kg⁻¹) when compared with similar bakery products tested, such as soft bread (102–594 µg kg⁻¹), which is a made with wheat flour.

Keywords:

• acrylamide
• foods
• Colombian foods
• GC/MS

Acknowledgement

The authors would also like to thank Alejandro Reyes for his contribution to AA analysis.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the “Banco de la República” (Bogotá, Colombia) [grant number 201209; Project ID 395850 – Investigation of acrylamide levels in Colombian foods].