Acrylamide update

In May 2002 Swedish scientists released information that acrylamide, a potential carcinogen, had been found in a range of foods. Food agencies across the world are monitoring the situation very closely. An upcoming conference in the UK is to present a round up of recent investigations.

In May 2002 a team of scientists at Stockholm University's Department ofEnvironmental Chemistry, working with the Swedish National FoodAdministration, released information that acrylamide, a potentialcarcinogen, had been found in a range of foods.

So great is the potential damage to the food industry that food agencies from almost every country around the world are monitoring the situation very closelyand the World Health Organisation (WHO) has established a task force toinvestigate the problem.

On 26 November UK training body Food Industry Training-Reading will host an updated briefing session forthe UK food industry to discuss the issue.

Expert speakers from theUniversity of Stockholm, the UK FSA and TNO-Bibra will outline how theproblem was discovered and provide delegates with the currentunderstanding.

Don Mottram and Bronek Wedzicha will present theirmechanistic findings following publication of their work on acrylamide recently published in science journal Nature.

Further details about the seminar can be directly obtained from the FIT-R