Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has released the first phase of the 24th Australian Total Diet Study (ATDS), which looked at Australian consumers’ dietary exposure to acrylamide, aluminium and perchlorates from daily staples like coffee, bread and milk.
The ATDS report is being released in two phases, with the second to focus on 30 food packaging chemicals and printing inks including bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates and printing inks.
A total of 94 foods and beverages were sampled over two sampling periods. Here are some of the key findings.
Acrylamide
One of the more significant findings of the study related to acrylamide. FSANZ concluded that although the levels found in Australian foods and beverages were generally comparable, or lower than those observed internationally, they were still at levels that were considered to be of possible concern to human health by the World Health Organisation’s expert committee.
Acrylamide is a water-soluble vinyl monomer of polyacrylamide, an industrial chemical used as a flocculant for the treatment of drinking water and various other purposes. In 2002, it was revealed that acrylamide could form naturally in carbohydrate-rich foods during high-temperature cooking such as frying, baking, roasting, toasting and grilling.
There is no direct evidence acrylamide causes cancer in humans but food regulators, including FSANZ, agree that we should reduce our exposure. FSANZ found that the same food type may show high levels of acrylamide in one analysis and no detectable levels in the next. For instance, some foods that would be expected to have detectable levels of acrylamide did not, such as coffee and pizza, and others that were not expected to contain acrylamide showed unexpectedly high levels, such as fried beef mince.
Acrylamide can be expected to form in prune juice owing to the presence of intermediates in the prunes and the manufacturing process employed. FSANZ concluded that it is important to maintain industry and consumer education measures to ensure acrylamide levels in Australian foods remain as low as reasonably achievable.
Dr Shaun Roman, a senior lecturer with the School of Environmental and Life Sciences at the University of Newcastle, says the sampling analysis produced some surprising results, such as the low levels of acrylamide in coffee.
“Cereals and grain foods remain the major contributor to juvenile and adult dietary intake except for teenagers, where it is potato chips and other snacks,” Roman says.
“While adults consume the most acrylamide, the low body weight of children results in a higher per-weight consumption.”
Professor Ian Rae, an honorary professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne and former president of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, says there was there was no evidence that linked the presence of acrylamide in foods like French fries, potato crisps, roasted meats and baked potatoes to human cancers or genetic effects.
“It’s a tough call, but ‘a little of what you fancy’ is probably still the way to go,” Rae says.
Aluminium
Aluminium was included in the 24th ATDS to supplement data collected during the 23rd ATDS and to provide an updated dietary exposure estimate. Estimated dietary exposures were under the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for all population groups assessed – except for two to five-year-old 90th percentile consumers, who had an estimated exposure of 110 per cent of the PTWI.
Chronic (long-term) exposure to aluminium at high levels is thought to increase the risk of some health issues, such as neurological and reproductive problems.
FSANZ says, however, that this small exceedance is unlikely to represent a major public health and safety issue, but that it would consider appropriate risk management options and their effects.
“As part of these considerations, FSANZ will discuss with industry whether the current permissions for aluminium-containing food additives in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code are still appropriate for the established technological need; or if they could be decreased to lower potential dietary exposures, particularly those for young children,” the report says. “In addition, alternative food additives that may be available for industry will be explored.”
Dietary exposure estimates were higher than those reported in the 23rd ATDS because more processed foods were included. The 24th ATDS included foods likely to have additives containing aluminium, with relatively high levels of aluminium being found in some foods such as baking compounds used in cakes and other baked flour-based products, and food colouring additives used in confectionery
Perchlorate
Perchlorate has been identified as a potential contaminant in drinking water and was included in the 24th ATDS to screen the levels in tap water across the eight Australian states and territories.Excessive exposure to perchlorate is known to have the potential to cause thyroid problems.
According to FSANZ, perchlorate levels were screened in eight tap water samples from across Australia and all results were below the limit of reporting.
For this reason, no risk assessment for perchlorates was conducted. Dr Ian Musgrave, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine in the School of Medicine Sciences at the University of Adelaide, says the 24th ATDS brought good news.
“Our foods are of international quality and indeed perform better in some aspects compared to international benchmarks,” Musgrave says. “There were no perchlorates in water, and the majority of the population is not exposed to levels of aluminium likely to cause health issues.”
FSANZ’s to do list
FSANZ has identified a number of areas for further work or development of risk management options to ensure that the Australian food supply remains safe with regard to acrylamide. As a result of this report, FSANZ says it will:
- Continue to investigate the results of this survey for minced beef and prunes
- Monitor risk management strategies employed domestically and internationally, including new processing measures designed to reduce acrylamide formation, particularly in baked or roasted food
- Continue to liaise with the Australian and New Zealand food industry to encourage and support them to examine ways in which manufacturing practices might be changed to reduce acrylamide formation in foods
- Continue to encourage adoption of the the 'Acrylamide toobox' produced by the CIAA
