Industry Best Practices

How a common enzyme helps reduce acrylamide in food.

Asparaginase offers a safe and effective way to reduce the presence of acrylamide in some foods.

Like acrylamide, asparaginase has always been a natural part of the human food supply.

Many plants produce the asparaginase enzyme to help regulate levels of an amino acid called asparagine. This occurs in chili peppers, beans and a number of other vegetables.

Researchers who study acrylamide formation in foods have found one part of that complex process involves the reaction of asparagine with natural reducing sugars at high temperatures (above 250 F/120 C). By lowering the amount of asparagine or reducing sugars in the ingredients, you can reduce the amount of acrylamide that forms in the final product.

Following the example set by natural processes, manufacturers now add asparaginase to some foods to reduce asparagine levels before high-temperature cooking. This method has been shown to significantly reduce the levels of dietary acrylamide in several dough-based products made from carbohydrate-rich food ingredients.

High cooking temperatures destroy the asparaginase enzyme in much the same way that hot water destroys the enzymes in raw vegetables when they are blanched.

When used as a processing aid in foods, it is used at very low concentrations and the final product contains minimal traces of the enzyme with no effect on the human body.

When used as a processing aid in foods, it is used at very low concentrations and the final product contains minimal traces of the enzyme with no effect on the human body.

Hundreds of research projects are underway around the world to understand and mitigate acrylamide’s formation during food processing and preparation.

The Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the European Union (CIAA), in collaboration with many GMA member companies and European regulators, has developed a guidance document or “toolbox”  to show possible ways to reduce acrylamide in different types of products. The CIAA has found, for example, that selecting potatoes with naturally low levels of sugar helps control the formation of acrylamide in potato chips when they are cooked.