Acrylamide levels in potato crisps in Europe from 2002 to 2016

European manufacturers' data on acrylamide in potato crisps from 2002 to 2016 were analysed. A previous study showed a 53% reduction in mean acrylamide levels from 763 ng/g in 2002 to 358 ng/g in 2011. Analysis of data from the longer period showed that since 2011 there has been a levelling off, with the mean level for 2016 being 412 ng/g (still a 46% reduction from 2002), suggesting that the most effective acrylamide reduction measures had been devised and implemented by 2011. There were similar trends in the 90th and 95th quantile values, with the 90th quantile values being below 1000 ng/g (the European Commission's current 'Indicative Value' for acrylamide in potato crisps) since 2010. The proportion of samples with acrylamide above 2000 ng/g fell from 4.8% in 2002 to 0.6% in 2016. Acrylamide levels showed marked seasonal variability, being highest in the first half of the year when potatoes were being used from storage, and lowest from July to September when potatoes were being harvested. Acrylamide levels were higher in thicker types of crisp in the early years of the study, but this difference disappeared in the later years, suggesting that manufacturers had acted to reduce acrylamide formation in these products. Higher values for acrylamide were recorded in north and east Europe than in the south and west up to 2013. Levels in the north and east declined in recent years, but remained higher in the north than in the other regions. The manufacturers' data were compared with a much smaller dataset provided by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Levels of acrylamide in the EFSA dataset were consistently higher than in the manufacturers' data, possibly due to uneven sampling through the year and the seasonality of acrylamide levels

Dietary Advanced Glycosylation End-Products (dAGEs) and Melanoidins Formed through the Maillard Reaction : Physiological Consequences of their Intake

The main purpose of this review is to clarify whether the consumption of food rich in melanoidins and dietary advanced glycosylation end-products (dAGEs) is harmful or beneficial for human health. There are conflicting results on their harmful effects in the literature, partly due to a methodological issue in how dAGEs are determined in food. Melanoidins have positive functions particularly within the gastrointestinal tract, whereas the intake of dAGEs has controversial physiological consequences. Most of the in vivo intervention trials were done comparing boiled versus roasted diet (low and high dAGE, respectively). However, these studies can be biased by different lipid oxidation and by different calorie density of foods in the two conditions. The attraction that humans have to cooked foods is linked to the benefits they have had during mankind's evolution. The goal for food technologists is to design low-energy-dense products that can satisfy humans' attraction to rewarding cooked foods

Acrylamide concentrations in potato crisps in Europe from 2002 to 2011

A dataset of manufacturers' measurements of acrylamide levels in 40,455 samples of fresh sliced potato crisps from 20 European countries for years 2002 to 2011 was compiled. This dataset is by far the largest ever compiled relating to acrylamide levels in potato crisps. Analysis of variance was applied to the data and showed a clear, significant downward trend for mean levels of acrylamide, from 763 +/- 91.1 ng g(-1) (parts per billion) in 2002 to 358 +/- 2.5 ng g(-1) in 2011; this was a decrease of 53% +/- 13.5%. The yearly 95th quantile values were also subject to a clear downward trend. The effect of seasonality arising from the influence of potato storage on acrylamide levels was evident, with acrylamide in the first 6 months of the year being significantly higher than in the second 6 months. The proportion of samples containing acrylamide at a level above the indicative value of 1000ngg(-1) for potato crisps introduced by the European Commission in 2011 fell from 23.8% in 2002 to 3.2% in 2011. Nevertheless, even in 2011, a small proportion of samples still contained high levels of acrylamide, with 0.2% exceeding 2000ngg(-1)

A study of diffusion in poly(ethyleneglycol)-gelatin based semi-interpenetrating networks for use in wound healing

Semi-interpenetrating networks (sIPNs) designed to mimic extracellular matrix via covalent crosslinking of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate in the presence of gelatin have been shown to aid in wound healing, particularly when loaded with soluble factors. Ideal systems for tissue repair permit an effective release of therapeutic agents and flow of nutrients to proliferating cells. Appropriate network characterization can, consequently, be used to convey an understanding of the mass transfer kinetics necessary for materials to aid in the wound healing process. Solute transport from and through sIPNs has not yet been thoroughly evaluated. In the current study, the diffusivity of growth factors and nutrients through the polymeric system was determined. Transport of keratinocyte growth factor was modeled by treating the sIPN as a plane sheet into which the protein was loaded. The diffusion coefficient was determined to be 4.86 × 10(−9) ± 1.86 × 10(−12) cm(2)/s. Glucose transport was modeled as flow through a semi-permeable membrane. Using lag-time analysis, the diffusion coefficient was calculated to be 2.25 × 10(−6) ± 1.98 × 10(−7) cm(2)/s. The results were evaluated in conjunction with previous studies on controlled drug release from sIPNs. As expected from Einstein-Stokes equation, diffusivity decreased as molecular size increased. The results offer insight into the structure-function design paradigm and show that release from the polymeric system is diffusion controlled, rather than dissolution controlled