Dietary Acrylamide and Cancer Risk in Humans: A Review

Abstract

In April 2002, researchers from the Swedish National Food Administration reported that they had detected elevated levels of acrylamide in commonly consumed baked and fried foods. Acrylamide is known as a neurotoxin in humans and as a carcinogen in experimental animals, and it is classified as a probable human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, 1994). Therefore, the discovery that the compound forms naturally during high-heat cooking of starchy foods caused substantial alarm in Sweden and worldwide. Within months of the initial Swedish report, national governments and food companies began their own investigations on acrylamide in foods and discussed the potential impact of dietary acrylamide on the public’s health. The discovery also provoked public debate among scientists about the importance of the finding because of the relative lack of data in humans on the one hand and the knowledge that acrylamide in high doses is genotoxic in cell and animal studies on the other. Since 2002, researchers have engaged in a wide range of studies spanning across disciplines. In this review, we summarize the current state of knowledge on acrylamide in foods. We discuss the formation and intake of acrylamide in foods, present evidence for carcinogenicity in cell and animal studies, and examine the findings from epidemiological studies of occupational and dietary exposures. We conclude with a discussion of future directions in the field.