The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a consumer warning that acrylamide is a cancer causing chemical. In Los Angeles County (California) a judge for the Superior Court ruled that coffee must carry a cancer warning under Proposition 65 as the brew contains acrylamide, a known carcinogen and potential neurotoxin. Coffee isn’t the only substance that contains acrylamide.
For coffee, the issue of acrylamide arises in the roasting process. As coffee beans are roasted, natural sugars and moisture enable the desireable brewing process, which chemically creates some acrylamide. This occurs at temperatures above 120 degrees C. The roasting temperatures of coffee is at last 200 degrees C. The highest concentration of acrylamide is in coffee which was roasted at 220 degrees C. for five minutes. The exact mechanisms of acrylamide’s formation in coffee may invlove asparagine and other processes. However the highest level of the compound occurs at a roasting level too light for consumer preferences, after which it begins to degrade significantly during further roasting. Completed roasting leaves only a fraction of the original acrylamide levels in the bean. Moreover, there is very little acrylamide left in brewed coffee as it is consumed. (Reference: https://dailycoffeenews.com)
The chemical compound was first discovered by Swedish scientists in 2002, although it is widely considered to have been present for as long as humans have been baking, frying and roasting foods. Most often found in plant-based products, it develops when foods containing sugar and an amino acid called asparagine are cooked at high temperatures. In animal testing since its initial discovery, high levels of acrylamide have been found to cause tumors and a high incidence of cancer. Why aren’t all foods cooked at high temperature labeled then? There is an article on my website that I wrote on grilling foods at high temperatures. It isn’t just within coffee. Many chemicals form when high heat is used to cook foods. Yet coffee now has the label.
This warning is now all over the news and internet reports. What isn’t being said is that acrylamide caused in the roasting process is dramatically reduced after ground coffee is brewed.
Acrylamide is a synthetic chemical widely used as a water treatment agent and in the manufacture of adhesives, dyes, and fabrics and it recently been shown to occur naturally in an increasing number of foods ranging from French fries, chips, cereals and crackers. Yet coffee roasting darker also makes taste and aroma unpalatable to consumers. Other approaches such as steam roasting have not shown any significant reduction in acrylamide levels in the finished product. Research is underway to determine if acrylamide appears to degrade when roasted coffee is stored over time.
The potential health effects of acrylamide and ways to reduce its content in foods will be explored August 21-23, 2018 in a three-day symposium, “Chemistry and Toxicology of Acrylamide,” during the 23th national meeting of the American Chemical Society.
The following are brief summaries of selected papers.
Dietary acrylamide may play a role in Alzheimer’s
Scientists have known for years that acrylamide is capable of causing nerve damage in humans, including muscle weakness and impaired muscle coordination, particularly from industrial exposure to large levels of the chemical. Now, new laboratory studies suggest that chronic dietary exposure to the chemical is capable of damaging nerve cells in the brain and could potentially play a role in the development of neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s, according to Richard LoPachin, Jr., PhD., a neurotoxicologist with Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He notes that acrylamide is structurally similar to acrolein, a chemical found in increased levels in brains of patients with Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Studies in humans are warranted, the researcher says.
Acrylamide found in dried fruits
Dried fruits, which are rich in fiber and antioxidants, have long been promoted as healthful alternatives to fresh fruits. Now, Thomas Amrein and his associates at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have found acrylamide are in dried fruits, a surprising finding considering that these products are dried at relatively mild temperatures instead of the high temperatures, through baking and frying, that usually produce the chemical. The study suggests that acrylamide is capable of being formed under relatively mild conditions through reactions that are not fully understood, the researchers say. Of the different dried fruits tested, the highest concentrations of the chemical were found in dried pears and prunes, they say.
Fat found to be significant souces of acrylamide in food
Studies have shown that carbohydrates and amino acids, particularly the non-essential amino acid asparagine, are the main chemicals in food that are responsible for acrylamide formation. Now, a new study by researchers in Spain incidicates for the first time that dietary fats make a significant contribution to the formation of acrylamide. The researchers found that high fat levels in roasted almonds may account for as much as half of the acrylamide found in this food and likely accounts for high levels found in other high fat foods, according to study leader Francisco J. Hialgo, Ph.D. of the Instituto de la Grasa in Seville. Although the researchers say they have not yet demonstrated that reducing fat content in foods actually reduce acrylamide, the study provides a new target to consider in efforts to reduce acrylamide formation.
Acrylamide not linked to breast cancer in U.S. women
Food that contain acrylamide are unlikely to cause breast cancer, according to preliminary results of a new study involving 100,000 U.S. women followed over a 20 year period. The study is the largest epidemiological study to date exploring the possible link between acrylamide and cancer in humans. Led by Lorelei Mucci, ScD., an epidemiologist at Harvard University School of Public Health in Boston, the study found that the incidence of breast cancer among women whose acrylamide consumption was considered high was roughly equal to the incidence among those whose acrylamide consumption was low. For further information on this topic see http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/07821090501.htm.
Other information can be found from the American Chemical Society, “What Are the Health Effects Of Acrylamide And How Can It Be Reduced in Food?” Science Daily. Science Daily, 22 August 2007.
Other Precautions
It is better to use dark roast vs. light roasted beans. You won’t find it in raw green coffee beans. Acrylamide is formed while roasting. This chemical forms early during the Maillard reaction (roasting). During the later stages, it’s actually broken down. For this reason, how much acrylamide in coffee depends on how much of it is roasted.
Levels Decline Over Time
Again the FDA didn’t provide info as to how much they decline, but they did report that acrylamide levels in coffee will decrease during long term storage.
Another factor are the antioxidants and how these may also degrade with time. Antioxidants are the health benefit of drinking coffee every morning. Studies have found that coffee is the number one source of antioxidants in the American diet, not kale in salads or other superfoods. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24071782)
Chlorogenci acid is the primary source of antioxidants in coffee. But unlike most veggies and fruits, the raw beans actually have less antioxidant content than roasted. A fair amount is actually created during the roasting process, as it breaks down the cholorogenci acid, which creates other potent antioxidants. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25658375)
There are very good lists of what type of coffee contains the lowest acrylamide. Yuban 100% Columbian contains 45-70 (multiple samples tested).
