Commission Regulation on the application of codes of good practice to reduce the presence of acrylamide in food: concerns of the consumers and of the industry
Michela Velardo1, Rebecca Lentini2
1. Lawyer, Cintioli & Associati, Bruxelles
2. Lawyer, Rome, Italy
The combination of temperature and heating time is pivotal to acrylamide (1) formation, not the specific temperature per se or the specific cooking process (e.g. roasting, frying, baking).
The complete elimination of acrylamide from food is not possible.
However, since 2007, National FOOD Safety Agencies have adopted a soft approach towards this issue, based on encouraging the food industry to implement best practices and to monitor the presence of acrylamide in food as well as to reduce acrylamide to levels as low as it is reasonably achievable.
In that light, business operators have followed Codes of Practice for Managing Acrylamide in food in order to minimise acrylamide in the products that they prepare.
Namely, the relevant sector organisations have developed Codes of Practice for potatoes based products, cereal based products, coffee and coffee substitutes and baby food, under the umbrella of FoodDrinkEurope, and for plant bakery products, by the International Association of Plant Bakers. Specific codes of practice have been elaborated for the eating out sector, the hospitality industry and the cr ...
