Heat and Control tackles acrylamide at Auspack

Heat and Control has been promoting a new piece of processing equipment that it says can significantly reduce acrylamide in potato snacks at Auspack this week.

 

Acrylamide forms naturally in carbohydrate-rich foods during high-temperature cooking such as frying, baking, roasting, toasting and grilling, and although there is no direct evidence acrylamide causes cancer in humans, food regulators, including FSANZ, agree that we should reduce our exposure.

Heat and Control's acrylamide-reducing E-FLO Electroporation system E-FLO, was built by the company in Brisbane.

 

E-FLO perforates the cell walls of the potato using pulsed electric field (PEF) processing, creating micro holes that allow asparagine and reducing sugars to be washed out, this reducing acrylamide formation and improving product crunch taste and texture.

 

“This is a game-changer. Acrylamide has been flagged as a potential carcinogenic, and electrical pulses remove over fifty per cent of the material that creates acrylamide,” Heat and Control sales manager Greg Pyne said.

 

“This is a pre-emptive strike for us.”

 

The E-FLO walked off with top honours in the Design Innovation of the Year Food - Machinery & Equipment category at the Packaging and Processing Innovation and Design Awards.