Acrylamide in Food and Cancer Risk 

Key Points 

• Acrylamide is a chemical used primarily for industrial purposes (see 

Question 1). 

• Acrylamide has been found in certain foods, with especially high levels in 

potato chips, French fries, and other food products produced by 

high-temperature cooking (see Question 2). 

• Food and cigarette smoke are the major sources of exposure to acrylamide 

(see Question 6). 

• Acrylamide is considered to be a mutagen and a probable human 

carcinogen, based mainly on studies in laboratory animals (see 

Question 7). 

• Scientists do not yet know with any certainty whether the levels of 

acrylamide typically found in some foods pose a health risk for humans 

(see Questions 7 and 10). 

1. What is acrylamide? 

Acrylamide is a chemical used primarily as a building block in making polyacrylamide 

and acrylamide copolymers. Polyacrylamide and acrylamide copolymers are used in 

many industrial processes, such as the production of paper, dyes, and plastics, and in the 

treatment of drinking water and wastewater, including sewage. They are also found in 

consumer products, such as caulking, food packaging, and some adhesives. Trace 

amounts of acrylamide generally remain in these products. 

2. Is there acrylamide in food? 

Researchers in Europe and the United States have found acrylamide in certain foods that 

were heated to a temperature above 120 degrees Celsius (248 degrees Fahrenheit), but not 

in foods prepared below this temperature (1). Potato chips and French fries were found 

to contain higher levels of acrylamide compared with other foods (2). The World Health 

Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that the 

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levels of acrylamide in foods pose a “major concern” and that more research is needed to 

determine the risk of dietary acrylamide exposure (2). 

3. How does cooking produce acrylamide? 

Asparagine is an amino acid (a building block of proteins) that is found in many 

vegetables, with higher concentrations in some varieties of potatoes. When heated to 

high temperatures in the presence of certain sugars, asparagine can form acrylamide. 

High-temperature cooking methods, such as frying, baking, or broiling, have been found 

to produce acrylamide (3), while boiling and microwaving appear less likely to do so. 

Longer cooking times can also increase acrylamide production when the cooking 

temperature is above 120 degrees Celsius (4, 5). 

4. Is there anything in the cooking process that can be changed to lower dietary 

acrylamide exposure? 

 Decreasing cooking time, blanching potatoes before frying, and postdrying (drying in a 

hot air oven after frying) have been shown to decrease the acrylamide content of some 

foods (6, 7). 

5. Should I change my diet? 

Acrylamide levels in food vary widely depending on the manufacturer, the cooking time, 

and the method and temperature of the cooking process (8, 9). The best advice at this 

time is to follow established dietary guidelines and eat a healthy, balanced diet that is low 

in fat and rich in high-fiber grains, fruits, and vegetables.

6. Are there other ways humans are exposed to acrylamide? 

 Food and cigarette smoke are the major sources of acrylamide exposure (10). Exposure 

to acrylamide from other sources is likely to be significantly less than that from food or 

smoking, but scientists do not yet have a complete understanding of all sources of 

exposure. Acrylamide and polyacrylamide are used in some industrial and agricultural 

procedures, and regulations are in place to limit exposure in those settings. 

7. Does acrylamide increase the risk of cancer? 

 Studies in rodent models have found that acrylamide exposure poses a risk for several 

types of cancer (11, 12, 13). However, the evidence from human studies is still 

incomplete. The National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the International Agency for 

Research on Cancer consider acrylamide to be a “probable human carcinogen,” based on 

studies in laboratory animals given acrylamide in drinking water. However, toxicology 

studies have shown differences in acrylamide absorption rates between humans and 

rodents (14). 
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 A series of case-control studies have investigated the relationship between dietary intake 

of acrylamide and the risk of developing cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, 

larynx, large bowel, kidney, breast, and ovary. These studies generally found no excess 

of tumors associated with acrylamide intake (15, 16, 17, 18, 19). In the studies, however, 

not all acrylamide-containing foods were included in estimating exposures. In addition, 

information in case-control studies about exposures is often based on interviews 

(personal or through questionnaires) with the case and control subjects, and these groups 

may differ in the accuracy of their recall about exposures. One factor that might 

influence recall accuracy in cancer-related dietary studies is that diets are often altered 

after receiving a diagnosis of cancer. 

To avoid such limitations in accurately determining acrylamide exposure, biomarkers of 

exposure were recently used in a Danish cohort study designed to evaluate the subsequent 

risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women (20). Among women with higher levels 

of acrylamide bound to the hemoglobin in their blood, there was a statistically significant 

increase in risk of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. This finding suggests an 

endocrine hormone-related effect, which would be consistent with the results of a 

questionnaire-based cohort study in the Netherlands that found an excess of endometrial

and ovarian cancer⎯but not of postmenopausal breast cancer⎯associated with higher 

levels of acrylamide exposure (21). Another cohort study from the Netherlands 

suggested a positive association between dietary acrylamide and the risk of renal cell 

cancer, but not of prostate or bladder cancer (22). 

8. What are other health effects of acrylamide?

High levels of acrylamide in the workplace have been shown to cause neurological 

damage, e.g., among workers using acrylamide polymers to clarify water in coal 

preparation plants (23). 

9. Are acrylamide levels regulated? 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates acrylamide in drinking 

water. The EPA established an acceptable level of acrylamide exposure, set low enough 

to account for any uncertainty in the data relating acrylamide to cancer and neurotoxic 

effects. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates the amount of residual 

acrylamide in a variety of materials that come in contact with food, but there are currently 

no guidelines governing the presence of acrylamide in food itself. 

10. What research is needed? 

Although studies in rodent models suggest that acrylamide is a potential carcinogen, 

additional epidemiological cohort studies are needed to help determine any effects of 

dietary acrylamide intake on human cancer risk. It is also important to determine how 

acrylamide is formed during the cooking process and whether acrylamide is present in 

foods other than those already tested. This information will enable more accurate and 

comprehensive estimates of dietary exposure. Biospecimen collections in cohort studies 
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will provide an opportunity to avoid the limitations of interview-based dietary 

assessments by examining biomarkers of exposure to acrylamide and its metabolites in 

relation to the subsequent risk of cancer. 

For information about acrylamide in food from the WHO and FAO, please visit the WHO 

Web site at http://www.who.int/foodsafety/chem/chemicals/acrylamide/en on the 

Internet. 

For information about acrylamide from the NTP’s Eleventh Report on Carcinogens, 

please visit http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/index.cfm?objectid=32BA9724-F1F6-975E7FCE50709CB4C932 on the Internet. 

Selected References 

1. Stadler RH, Blank I, Varga N, et al. Acrylamide from Maillard reaction products. 

Nature 2002; 419(6906):449–450. 

2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. World Health Organization. 

Summary report of the sixty-fourth meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on 

Food Additives (JECFA). Retrieved July 24, 2008, from: 

http://www.who.int/entity/ipcs/food/jecfa/summaries/summary_report_64_final.pdf. 

3. Mottram DS, Wedzicha BL, Dodson AT. Acrylamide is formed in the Maillard reaction. 

Nature 2002; 419(6906):448–449. 

4. Gertz C, Klostermann S. Analysis of acrylamide and mechanisms of its formation in 

deep-fried products. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology 2002; 

104(11):762–771. 

5. Rydberg P, Eriksson S, Tareke E, et al. Investigations of factors that influence the 

acrylamide content of heated foodstuffs. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

2003; 51(24):7012–7018. 

6. Kita A, Brathen E, Knutsen SH, Wicklund T. Effective ways of decreasing acrylamide 

content in potato crisps during processing. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

2004; 52(23):7011–7016. 

7. Skog K, Viklund G, Olsson K, Sjoholm I. Acrylamide in home-prepared roasted 

potatoes. Molecular Nutrition and Food Research 2008; 52(3):307–312. 

8. Tareke E, Rydberg P, Karlsson P, Eriksson S, Tornqvist M. Analysis of acrylamide, a 

carcinogen formed in heated foodstuffs. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

2002; 50(17):4998–5006. 
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9. Mojska H, Gielecinska I, Szponar L. Acrylamide content in heat-treated 

carbohydrate-rich foods in Poland. Roczniki Panstwowego Zakladu Higieny 2007; 

58(1):345–349. 

10. Urban M, Kavvadias D, Riedel K, Scherer G, Tricker AR. Urinary mercapturic acids and 

a hemoglobin adduct for the dosimetry of acrylamide exposure in smokers and 

nonsmokers. Inhalation Toxicology 2006; 18(10):831–839. 

11. Dearfield KL, Abernathy CO, Ottley MS, Brantner JH, Hayes PF. Acrylamide: Its 

metabolism, developmental and reproductive effects, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity. 

Mutation Research 1988; 195(1):45–77. 

12. Dearfield KL, Douglas GR, Ehling UH, et al. Acrylamide: A review of its genotoxicity 

and an assessment of heritable genetic risk. Mutation Research 1995; 330(1–2):71–99. 

13. Friedman M. Chemistry, biochemistry, and safety of acrylamide. A review. Journal of 

Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2003; 51(16):4504–4526. 

14. Fuhr U, Boettcher MI, Kinzig-Schippers M, et al. Toxicokinetics of acrylamide in 

humans after ingestion of a defined dose in a test meal to improve risk assessment for 

acrylamide carcinogenicity. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention 2006; 

15(2):266–271. 

15. Pelucchi C, Galeone C, Levi F, et al. Dietary acrylamide and human cancer. 

International Journal of Cancer 2006; 118(2):467–471. 

16. Mucci LA, Dickman PW, Steineck G, Adami HO, Augustsson K. Dietary acrylamide 

and cancer of the large bowel, kidney, and bladder: Absence of an association in a 

population-based study in Sweden. British Journal of Cancer 2003; 88(1):84–89. 

17. Mucci LA, Lindblad P, Steineck G, Adami HO. Dietary acrylamide and risk of renal cell 

cancer. International Journal of Cancer 2004; 109(5):774–776. 

18. Mucci LA, Adami HO, Wolk A. Prospective study of dietary acrylamide and risk of 

colorectal cancer among women. International Journal of Cancer 2006; 118(1):169–

173. 

19. Mucci LA, Sandin S, Balter K, et al. Acrylamide intake and breast cancer risk in 

Swedish women. Journal of the American Medical Association 2005; 293(11):1326–

1327. 

20. Olesen PT, Olsen A, Frandsen H, et al. Acrylamide exposure and incidence of breast 

cancer among postmenopausal women in the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Study. 

International Journal of Cancer 2008; 122(9):2094–2100. 
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21. Hogervorst JG, Schouten LJ, Konings EJ, Goldbohm RA, van den Brandt PA. A 

prospective study of dietary acrylamide intake and the risk of endometrial, ovarian, and 

breast cancer. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention 2007; 16(11):2304–

2313. 

22. Hogervorst JG, Schouten LJ, Konings EJ, Goldbohm RA, van den Brandt PA. Dietary 

acrylamide intake and the risk of renal cell, bladder, and prostate cancer. American 

Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2008; 87(5):1428–1438. 

23. Mulloy KB. Two case reports of neurological disease in coal mine preparation plant 

workers. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 1996; 30(1):56–61. 

# # # 

Related NCI materials and Web pages: 

• National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet 3.25, Heterocyclic Amines in Cooked Meats

(http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/heterocyclic-amines)

• What You Need To Know AboutTM Cancer

(http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/overview)

For more help, contact: 

NCI’s Cancer Information Service 

Telephone (toll-free): 1–800–4–CANCER (1–800–422–6237) 

TTY (toll-free): 1–800–332–8615

LiveHelp® online chat: https://cissecure.nci.nih.gov/livehelp/welcome.asp

This fact sheet was reviewed on 7/29/08