WRITTEN QUESTION E-1404/02

by Jean-Maurice Dehousse (PSE) to the Commission

(16 May 2002)

Subject: Presence of acrylamide in foodstuffs

On Wednesday, 24 April 2002 a team of researchers at Stockholm University announced that they had discovered that acrylamide formed when starchy foods were heated to a high temperature. The foodstuffs in question are basic ones such as bread and biscuits not to mention cereals and chips which, according to the research, could contain particularly high levels of acrylamide. If consumed in large amounts, acrylamide can affect the nervous system and cause impotence, paralysis and cancer.

This information is in addition to the impact analyses commissioned by the Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment (SCTEE) in order to investigate the presence of acrylamide in the wastewater treatment cycle. Those analyses, which were presented in October 2000, indicated that neurotoxic effects on human beings could not be ruled out.

In view of the above information and in full awareness of the fact that this does not constitute a new threat but, rather, the identification of a risk to which people have been exposed for generations (though bearing in mind that, according to the Swedish authorities, between 200 and 600 new cases of cancer each year are attributable to acrylamide in Sweden alone), what action does the Commission intend to take or propose at European level in response to the emergence of this new information?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(21 June 2002)

On 24 April 2002, the Swedish National Food Administration made public new findings on acrylamide in foods. High levels were detected in carbohydrate-rich foods produced using high temperatures, particularly frying and baking processes.

Acrylamide is a known possible cancer-causing chemical, although its formation in food has not been highlighted before this study. Improvements and new developments in analytical methods have led to this finding that some cooking practices might cause the formation of acrylamide in food. The mechanism by which this occurs is not clear.

As for all new scientific developments, the Swedish method must be validated. Nevertheless, on 17 May 2002 the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency published results which confirmed the Swedish findings. A limited number of samples were tested in both studies and it is clear that this issue must be further investigated more widely.

The Commission has asked the Member States and representatives of the industry to investigate this issue and provide information. In parallel, the Commission has taken steps to consult the Scientific Committee on Food on the scientific aspects of this issue. Furthermore, the Commission is working alongside the World Health Organisation, which will hold a world-wide expert consultation on this issue at the end of June 2002.

The Commission is currently exploring how the large-scale European Prospective Investigation of Cancer and nutrition (EPIC) cohort study, which has been co-financed by the Europe against Cancer programme for more than ten years, could be exploited to answer the question of relative risk towards cancer from acrylamide in food. EPIC is co-ordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organisation. The study includes approximately 500 000 European participants from nine Member States and Norway. Twenty-four different research centres follow the nutritional habits of the participants, preceding the later occurrence of cancer. This is an ideal frame in which to address the question of a so far unreported risk towards cancer from acrylamide in food.

Under the Commission's current Framework research programme, there are no European collaborative projects on acrylamide in food. If necessary, the call for proposals for the new Framework research programme could include topics on this subject.

The available information is clearly limited at this stage. A provisional assessment will help determine the extent of risk that might be posed by this newly identified issue.