The British Food Standards Agency announced that it had found high levels of acrylamide in a number of popular products, as this substance leads to cancer when cooking. The agency published its annual report this week, which indicated high levels of acrylamide in apple rice cakes, crunchy corn grains and banana corn grains, all of which are very popular baby foods in Britain, according to a report published by the "Daily Mail".
The news says that when these foods are cooked at high temperatures, the so-called Maillard reaction occurs, which gives the food a brown color and a crunchy texture, but it also leads to the formation of acrylamide.
And the European Union''s Food Safety Authority had this week published similar warnings, including not storing potatoes in the refrigerator (freezer), as this increases sugar levels and leads to an increase in browning.
Food Safety Authority official, Diane Benford, said that acrylamide degrades in the human body and turns into another substance called glycamide, and "it is very likely that glycamide causes a mutation in the genes and leads to the emergence of tumors in the animals that we have studied."
The Consumer Goods Association in Britain announced that they are cooperating with food producers to reduce acrylamide in foods, according to the news.
