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Acrylamide concerns: EU consumer organization calls for stronger consumer protection
06 Mar 2019 (FoodIngredientsFirst) -- Acrylamide concerns: EU consumer organization calls for stronger consumer protection
A new European test by consumer organizations has highlighted that consumers, especially young consumers, should be better protected from cancer-causing acrylamide in their food. To do so, the European Consumer Organization, BEUC, is calling on the European Commission (EC) to lower the current indicative benchmarks for this contaminant and make these binding for food producers.
Acrylamide is a suspected carcinogen that forms in foods with reduced sugar that is processed at a high temperature. Many food manufacturers have already taken steps to reduce acrylamide levels in their products and governments all over the world are starting to pay attention to acrylamide and are implementing new regulations, which include setting benchmark levels and requiring warning signs on foods and beverages that contain acrylamide, such as the California Prop 65 warning.