Commission and member states consider new restrictions on acrylamide

National and EU experts are discussing new legally binding limits for acrylamide in food, EU sources told Euractiv, reopening a file that has sparked intense discussions.

In 2017, the adoption of the first EU restrictions on the carcinogenic substance – which can form in starchy foods when cooked at high temperatures – sparked a heated debate.

At the time, member states could not agree on the maximum levels of the substance allowed in processed foods.

Instead, they set indicators that food companies must use to monitor the effectiveness of their efforts to reduce acrylamide levels in chips, crisps, bread, biscuits and even coffee.

In the regulation, the Commission and member states committed to consider setting maximum levels for the substance in certain foods.

EU sources told Euractiv that, on this basis, the Commission and national experts are currently discussing the introduction of legally binding limits for some foods, lowering the existing indicators and adding new ones covering more products, including, for example, vegetable crisps other than potato and cereal crisps.

The discussions are at a technical level, the sources added, based on data collected by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on acrylamide from 2020 to 2023, with an outcome expected in the second half of the year.

“There is a significant lack of consumer awareness regarding acrylamide,” Safe Food Advocacy Europe (SAFE) stated in a position paper that marked the launch of a campaign on 18 June, “to put the issue of acrylamide back on the political agenda.”

The NGO calls the EU lawmkers to set maximum levels of acrylamide in potato crisps, breakfast products, and French fries, to establish strong limits for baby foods and to expand the range of food products covered by the regulation.

Stricter rules are needed, SAFE stressed, “to make food producers take additional steps to reduce the levels of acrylamide in foodstuffs, as it is unlikely that industry as a whole will voluntarily take those measures unless they are obligated to.”

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published two opinions on acrylamide in food, in 2015 and 2022, confirming the findings of previous studies on the role of the substance in increasing the risk of cancer. EFSA has continued to collect data on acrylamide on an annual basis.

Also Academia is continuing to analyse the substance. A recent study by the University of Bari suggested to start monitoring acrylamide formation in plant-based foods.

[Edited by Rajnish Singh]

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