Assessment of the acrylamide intake of the Belgian population and the effect of mitigation strategies

Abstract

The acrylamide (AA) intake of the Belgian consumer was calculated based on AA monitoring data of the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) and consumption data of the Belgian food consumption survey coordinated by the Scientific Institute for Public Health (3214 participants of 15 years or older). The average AA exposure, calculated probabilistically, was 0.4 µg kg⁻¹ body weight (bw) day⁻¹ (P97.5 = 1.6 µg kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹), the main contributors to the average intake being chips (23%), coffee (19%), biscuits (13%), and bread (12%). Additionally, the impact of a number of AA mitigation scenarios was evaluated (German minimization concept, scenarios for mitigation from the literature, signal values), which is an important issue for public health as well as for policy-makers. Specific actions in cooperation with the food industry to reduce the AA content of foods seems to be a more efficient strategy than mere implementation of signal values. Considering that an important share of the AA intake is due to prepared meals, the catering industry as well as consumers need to be better informed on the various possibilities for keeping the AA content of meals as low as possible.

Keywords:

• risk assessment
• exposure assessment
• probabilistic modelling
• liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS)
• process contaminants
• acrylamide
• processed foods

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Belgian Institute of Public Health for access to the consumption data, and the Scientific Committee of the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) for their guidance of this study. Frédéric Mestdagh is post-doctoral researcher funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO Vlaanderen).