At the end of March this year, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) released a study that provided the results of routine testing of food products for acrylamide levels. The study results confirmed that acrylamide was not found in any samples of high carbohydrate foods at levels that would be considered unsafe for consumption. The products tested were foods such as dried fruits, vegetables, crackers and condiments – all collected from retail stores.
The release of the study was part of Canada Food Safety Action Plan (FSAP) which has, as its objective, the modernization and enhancement of Canada's food system. As part of the FSAP, focused surveys are used to test foods for specific identified hazards. One of the objectives of the acrylamide survey by the CFIA was to generate baseline surveillance data on acrylamide levels in high carbohydrate foods cooked or processed at high temperatures – the acrylamide is unintentionally formed by high temperature cooking/processing methods.
The CFIA had previously announced that nearly 900 samples of high carbohydrate foods, which may have been cooked or processed at high temperatures, had been analyzed for acrylamide. While nearly 70% of the samples were reported as containing detectable levels of acrylamide, the data relating to the levels of acrylamide detected were shared with Health Canada and were determined to be unlikely to pose a human health concern.
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