• Starting from April 11, 2018, operators in the food industry will have to adhere to the new measures to reduce the reference levels for reducing the presence of acrylamide in food products.
It is a regulation at European level, published in the Official Journal of the European Union by REGULATION (EU) 2017/2158 OF THE COMMISSION of November 20, 2017.
According to the regulation, processors are required to establish their own program for sampling and analyzing the levels of acrylamide in food products and to keep a record of the reduction measures applied.
Directly targeted by these new rules are the companies that produce and market food products such as:
• fried potatoes, other cut products (fried by immersion in oil) and thin potato slices (chips) made from fresh potatoes;
• potato chips, snacks and other potato products made from potato dough;
• bread;
• fine bakery products: cookies, biscuits, breadcrumbs, cereal bars, cakes, cones, wafers, donuts and gingerbread, as well as crispy biscuits, bread rounds and bread substitutes;
• roasted and instant coffee (soluble);
• coffee substitutes;
• breakfast cereals (except porridge);
• food products intended for infants and processed cereal-based food products intended for young children, as defined in Regulation (EU) no. 609/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
What is acrylamide?
Acrylamide is a low molecular weight, highly water-soluble organic compound that arises from the natural constituents asparagine and sugars in certain food products when prepared at temperatures typically greater than 120°C and under reduced humidity.
It occurs mainly in baked or fried carbohydrate-rich foods, where the raw materials contain its precursors, such as cereals, potatoes and coffee beans
Measures to reduce acrylamide levels in bakery products
Mitigation measures applied to bakery products include: reducing or replacing, in whole or in part, ammonium bicarbonate with alternative leavening agents such as sodium bicarbonate and acidulants or sodium bicarbonate and disodium diphosphates with organic acids or variants of their potassium (such as cakes, biscuits, breadcrumbs, cereal bars, scones, cones, waffles, donuts and gingerbread, unsweetened products such as crisps, bread rolls and bread substitutes).
Find the full regulation here.
ANSVSA will not apply fines directly
"However, in the first phase we will not impose fines, but we will try to advise producers to apply measures related to reducing the level of acrylamide in food," announced Bogdan Licărete, Deputy General Director of ANSVSA, during the seminar dedicated to producers and suppliers of food and supplements from Romania - SINN (Safety. Hygiene - Irregularities. News, held on February 21-22, 2018, event organized by Ro.Aliment Magazine).
