Action on acrylamide
With the EU’s acrylamide legislation looming, DSM has seen a rise in manufacturer’s interest in its enzyme PreventASe, and acrylamide reduction was a hot topic at the show, according to marketing manager for fine baking and acrylamide mitigation at DSM Jaap van den Berg.
PreventASe works by converting asparagine – naturally present in starchy foods and the starting point for acrylamide formation – into aspartic acid. PreventASe does not effect taste or texture and, as it’s a processing aid that disappears during cooking, does not appear on the final product’s label.
It cuts acrylamide levels in corn chips, pretzels, bread, biscuits and dried potato products by between 80 and 90% and up to 60% for French Fries.
Despite the upcoming regulation and public awareness campaigns, such as the UK Food Standard Agency’s Go for Gold campaign, DSM recently questioned 2000 consumers in Germany, France, the UK and US and found that acrylamide is not necessarily at the forefront of consumers’ minds.
An average of 10% of those surveyed were aware of acrylamide but, when pushed for further details, often gave the wrong answer. “That means that it’s still something new,” van den Berg said.
“But as a consumer you should be able to trust that what you buy in the supermarket is safe and that should be the consensus. Manufacturers need to take the steps to reduce acrylamide, that’s the basic starting point.”
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