A Norwegian research company, ZeracrylAS, claims to have developed a new technology that uses specially developed food-grade lactic acid bacteria to reduce acrylamide formation by 90% during the potato and coffee industry.
ZeracrylAS claims that this is the most cost-effective and effective way to reduce the toxic acrylamide content of fried foods in food processing. This technology has attracted Nestlé multinationals such as Nestle and Norwegian potato processing company Hoff ( HoffAS) and Maarud's attention.
In 2002, Swedish researchers found that many foods contained the carcinogenic compound acrylamide. This news took the headlines and surprised global consumers and food safety agencies. Since then, many researchers have turned their attention to acrylamide. This compound was found in bread, some types of crackers and sweet biscuits, fried potato products and coffee. Researchers are beginning to study its impact on humans and how to reduce its content in production.
Norwegian Hans. Hans Blom has been working on the reduction of acrylamide. When the incident broke out, he was working on food safety at MatforskAS, Norway's largest food research institute, and was well aware of the challenges facing the food industry.
He and his research team have discovered a way to limit the formation of acrylamide in the production of potatoes and coffee, which they have patented through Zeracryl.
Dr. Bum explained that acrylamide is often accompanied by the Maillard reaction, which is formed during the reaction of aspartic acid and monosaccharides such as glucose and lactose. The basis of this patented method is the use of food grade lactic acid bacteria to reduce the amount of reducing sugars (such as glucose) on the surface of the food to reduce the formation of acrylamide during frying or heating.
Ongoing experiments have shown that food is soaked in lactic acid bacteria solution for 10-15 minutes before cooking, reducing about 90% of the acrylamide in the final food. The company says its approach has proven to be industrial.
Despite the operability of Zeracryl technology, Dr. Boom said that these food companies would not undertake large-scale measures to reduce or remove acrylamide until there were no mandatory requirements in each country.
These regulations seem to be close at hand, and the United States is testing the maximum tolerated acrylamide (MTD). The result may be the establishment of acrylamide limits by food regulators in the US and Europe, which will be a severe test for international food giants and an opportunity for Zeracryl's.