Food Standards Agency (FSA) is launching ‘Go for Gold’ campaign to help people understand how to minimize exposure to acrylamide when cooking at home.
FSA and Olympian Denise Lewis team up to offer advice on minimizing levels of the potentially harmful chemical in home cooking:
Go for Gold – as a general rule of thumb, aim for a golden yellow color or lighter when frying, baking, toasting or roasting starchy foods like potatoes, root vegetables and bread.
Check the pack – follow the cooking instructions carefully when frying or oven-heating packaged food products such as chips, roast potatoes and parsnips. The on-pack instructions are designed to cook the product correctly. This ensures that you aren’t cooking starchy foods for too long or at temperatures which are too high.
Eat a varied and balanced diet – while we can’t completely avoid risks like acrylamide in food, eating a healthy, balanced diet that includes basing meals on starchy carbohydrates and getting your 5 A Day will help reduce your risk of cancer.
Don’t keep raw potatoes in the fridge – if you intend to roast or fry them. Storing raw potatoes in the fridge can increase overall acrylamide levels. Raw potatoes should ideally be stored in a dark, cool place at temperatures above 6°C.
The FSA is launching the ‘Go for Gold’ campaign following findings from its Total Diet Study, published in January 2017. The results confirm that people in the UK currently consume higher levels of the chemical than is desirable.
Steve Wearne, Director of Policy at the Food Standards Agency, commented: ‘Our research indicates that the majority of people are not aware that acrylamide exists, or that they might be able to reduce their personal intake’.
