Completed Food & Agriculture Materials & Manufacturing

MCAP2 - Measurement and Control of Acrylamide in Production Processes

Funder InnovateUK (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation Industrial Technology Systems Limited
Funding £1.3M
Period Feb 2018 — Dec 2021

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Potato growers and food manufacturers are testing new ways to stop a suspected carcinogen from forming in crisps, chips, and bread. Acrylamide forms when starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures, and studies have linked it to cancer in animals. The food industry currently has no way to measure acrylamide levels in real time during production—samples must be sent to a lab, creating delays that make it impossible to adjust processes on the fly. This project tackles that gap by developing two things: growing methods that reduce the raw potato’s potential to produce acrylamide, and online sensors or estimation tools that give manufacturers immediate readings during frying or baking. If the work succeeds, manufacturers could continuously monitor and control acrylamide levels without stopping production. That would let them meet the industry’s “as low as reasonably achievable” target more reliably, without waiting days for lab results. For consumers, the payoff is greater confidence that everyday foods—potato products, bread, and cereals—carry lower acrylamide levels. For the supply chain, it means tighter integration between how potatoes are grown and how they are processed, turning a moving regulatory target into a manageable, real-time process.

View original technical description
Recent press reports on the problem of acrylamide in food products, observing the potential linkage between it and cancer in humans are common. The increasing nature of these articles serves to raise public awareness. The food industry and industry bodies have acted on these jutifiable concerns and have produced technical guidance to manufacturers to reduce acrylamide levels. Safe limits are not yet specified, leaving it to the industry to achieve ALARA as the target. This is clearly a moving target as technology develops and new opportunities arise and the onus is on the industry to achieve reductions. One of the real challenges faced has been the complexity of the supply chain / manufacturing process and the inability to measure acrylamide other than with considerable delay in a laboratory. This project will investigate approaches for growing potatoes in a manner that reduce their potential to produce acrylamide. It will also derive better online measurement / estimation and how information from the supply chain and manufacturing line can be used to reduce levels of acrylamide in manufactured potato products. Subsequently the project will deliver improved measurement and control providing increased confidence to the consumer in the safety of potato and potato-derived products alongside bread and cereals.

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Original classification

Collaborative R&D

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