Occurrence of Acrylamide in breakfast cereals and biscuits available in Italy

Acrylamide, produced during thermal processing of carbohydrate-rich foods, is classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The aim of this study was to determine acrylamide levels in biscuits and breakfast cereals considering the widespread use of these products for all ages. Acrylamide determination was carried out in 56 samples by HPLC-UV technique. The results showed a considerable variability in the contents of acrylamide in the samples analysed, most likely due to differences in industrial processing and ingredients. The percentages of contaminated samples tested were very high (95.5% of the biscuits and 75% of the breakfast cereals) with a wide range of contamination: from 30 µg/Kg to 940 µg/Kg. Our results showed that 22.7% of biscuits and 33% of breakfast cereals exceeded the indicative values recommended by EC 2013/647 set at 500 µg/Kg and 200-400 µg/Kg (according to the composition) respectively. Our findings suggest concern about the risk for human health.