How far is the Spanish snack sector from meeting the acrylamide regulation 2017/2158?

This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Acrylamide Study in Foods: Formation, Analysis and Exposure Assessment.In 2017, the European Commission published Regulation 2017/2158 establishing mitigation measures and benchmark levels to reduce acrylamide in foods. Acrylamide was determined in seventy potato crisp samples commercialized in Spain. The aim was to update knowledge about the global situation in the snack sector and evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation strategies applied, especially since the publication of the Regulation. Results were compared with data previously published in 2004, 2008, and 2014, assessing the evolution over recent years. Average acrylamide content in 2019 (664 µg/kg, range 89–1930 μg/kg) was 55.3% lower compared to 2004, 10.3% lower compared to 2008 and practically similar to results from 2014. Results support the effectiveness of mitigation measures implemented by Spanish potato crisp manufacturers. However, 27% of samples exhibited concentrations above the benchmark level established in the Regulation (750 μg/kg), which suggests that efforts to reduce acrylamide formation in this sector must be continued. Besides the variability seen between samples, acrylamide significantly correlated with the color parameter a*, which enables discrimination of whether potato crisps contain above or below benchmark content. The calculated margin of exposure for carcinogenicity was below the safety limit, which should be considered from a public health point of view.This work was partially supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (Spain) under the project ACRINTAKE (RTI2018-094402-B-I00, MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) and by the Community of Madrid, and European funding from FSE and FEDER programs under the project S2018/BAA-4393, AVANSECAL-II-CM