Abstract
Acrylamide (also known as 2-propenamide) (AA) is a toxicant that develops in food during high-temperature cooking, and its occurrence is common in biscuits and baked snacks. AA is known for its in vivo neurotoxic and carcinogenic effects, and it is considered a potential carcinogen for humans. Infants may be exposed to AA as early as during weaning through baked food such as biscuits. This study set out to ascertain the concentration of AA in food products intended for infants to assess the dietary exposure to this food contaminant. AA levels were determined through GC/MS and bromination, and dietary exposure was evaluated by a probabilistic method based on Monte Carlo simulation. The results showed that the probability of a carcinogenic exposure is 94%, 92%, and 87%, respectively, for 6-, 12-, and 18-months infants, suggesting the need to delay the introduction of baked products in the diet of weaned infants. It should be noted, however, that these conclusions were drawn considering the biscuits as the primary source of exposure.
Highlights
Monte Carlo simulations (MCS) is a computational method widely used in probabilistic analysis to obtain distributions of the outcomes: It addresses the uncertainty of the parameters and it is based on several iterations of random sampling
According to the same study, two samples of biscuits intended for infants and the cereals to be reconstituted showed an upper-bound level respectively equal to 77 and 17 ng/g, and these results corroborate the data of our study, no multigrain sample analyzed in our study showed detectable levels of AA
3–5. used for this evaluation is based upon non-reproducible carcinogenic evidence in humans (Harderian gland adenocarcinoma), the margin of exposure (MOE) was assessed according to a higher Benchmark-Dose Level 10 (BMDL10), coming out from mammary gland carcinoma in rats. Considering this latter assessment, the probability of carcinogenic risk for 6, 12, and 18-months infants was still high (85%, 81%, and 77%), outlining a significant risk for most of the population under study despite a higher BMDL10. These findings mirror those by Elias et al [45], who reported a dietary intake lying in the range 0.12–0.80 μg/kg bw (0.66–2.34 as regards consumers at the 95th percentile): according to this study that considered commercial baby food purchased in Estonia, the MOE varied from 185 to 620
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. These studies that even show a renewed interest in the occurrence of this food contaminant in terms of dietary exposure of the Italian population, did not focus on those products intended for infants It is clear, that there is a need to find increasingly effective strategies and solutions for the reduction of this contaminant given the importance of these foods and the vulnerability of the exposed population. That there is a need to find increasingly effective strategies and solutions for the reduction of this contaminant given the importance of these foods and the vulnerability of the exposed population For this purpose, this investigation aims to estimate the concentration of AA in food products for infants in order to address the lack of data on the probable dietary exposure of the most susceptible age groups
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