Abstract
Abstract The levels of acrylamide intake because of potato crisps consumption remains unknown in Kenyan context. This study assessed the exposure to acrylamide because of consumption of potato crisps in Nairobi, Kenya. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 315 crisps consumers in Nairobi, and consumption patterns were collected using a pre-tested structured 7-day recall questionnaire. A total of 43 branded and 15 unbranded potato crisps samples were purchased in triplicates of 100 g and acrylamide was quantified using a gas chromatograph with a flame ionization detector. Consumption data were combined with the data on acrylamide contents from which dietary acrylamide intake was calculated using a probabilistic approach based on @Risk TopRank 6 risk analysis software for excel. The mean estimated acrylamide intake was 1.57 µg/kg body weight (BW) per day while the 95th (P95) percentile was 5.1 µg/kg BW per day, with margins of exposures (MOE) being 197 and 61, respectively. The intake of acrylamide was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in unbranded crisps with a mean value of 2.26 and 95th percentile of 6.54 µg/kg BW per day, MOE being 137 and 47, respectively. There were extremely lower MOE indicating higher exposure to acrylamide by the consumers mainly because of the higher acrylamide contents in potato crisps, and hence the need for mitigation measures.
Highlights
There has been a general trend of increased consumption of fried potato products with potato crisps being one of the most important industrial product consumed by a large proportion of urban dwellers, including Nairobi (Abong’ et al 2010)
Independent consumption data were combined with acrylamide contents results and intake calculated
Because of insufficient epidemiological data on carcinogenic effect, a dose–response relationship has been set depending on animal data with JECFA proposing lower limit on the benchmark dose for a 10% response (BMDL10) for acrylamide to be 0.31 mg/kg body weight (BW) per day in case of induction of mammary tumors in rats and 0.18 mg/kg BW per day for Harderian gland tumors in mice (JECFA 2010)
Summary
There has been a general trend of increased consumption of fried potato products with potato crisps being one of the most important industrial product consumed by a large proportion of urban dwellers, including Nairobi (Abong’ et al 2010). Fried potato products have been shown to contain by-products such as acrylamide depending on the level of contamination and consumption (Ogolla et al 2015). It is widely agreed that acrylamide is a monomer mainly formed through Maillard reaction involving free asparagine and carbohydrates, the reducing sugars glucose and fructose. Together with French fries, potato crisps have been shown to have relatively high acrylamide contents in a number of recorded research reports (EFSA 2011; Sirot et al 2012). The high acrylamide contents in these products have been attributed to the high amounts of free asparagine in potatoes compared to other foods that undergo similar processing conditions. The levels are influenced by a number of factors including genetic variation, post-harvest handling, and storage conditions as well processing parameters
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