Partially Cooked Frozen Fries Linked to Increased Cancer Risk

They are enjoyed by millions in restaurants, fast-food outlets and pubs.

But the humble frozen chip could be a cause of cancer, a worrying study reveals.

Scientists have found that the kind of partly-cooked fries supplied to many food outlets are most likely to contain higher levels of carcinogenic chemicals.

These oven chips arrive sliced, dried and part-fried, a process of partly cooking them so they are crisp on the outside, but remain raw on the inside.

This means they do not need as long to cook into the final, tasty version that can then get served up to customers.

But it is this factory process that can influence the amount of acrylamide, a 'probable human carcinogen', that remains in the chips by the time they are dished up, said the US study.

Experts from the American Chemical Association called for manufacturers to use more efficient ways to cook potatoes from raw that limits the amount of acrylamide found in them.

Acrylamide is a natural substance found in many different types of food, including potatoes, according to the study for the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.But the process often used to prepare frozen chips for the catering trade does not reduce its levels.

Food chemist Donald Mottram and his team report: 'The commercial process includes potato selection and sorting, cutting, blanching, sugar augmentation, drying, frying and freezing.

'In combination with final cooking, this generates the colour, texture and flavour that consumers expect in french fries.'

It added: 'Acrylamide forms naturally during the cooking of many food products. Acrylamide formation in fried potato products is inevitable.'

A computer model measured how acylamide, amino acids, sugars, fat and other levels varied during the cooking process and what happens when the various ratios are altered.

And the most effective in terms of reducing acrylamide is to reduce the fructose to glucose ratio once the potatoes had been cut into chips, they found.

The report said: 'To minimise the quantities of acrylamide in cooked fries, it is important to understand the impact of each stage on the formation of acrylamide.

'A mathematical model based on the fundamental chemical reaction pathways of the finish-frying was developed, incorporating moisture and temperature gradients in the fries.

'This showed the contribution of both glucose and fructose to the generation of acrylamide and accurately predicted the acrylamide content of the final fries.'

A spokesman from the NHS said: 'This is a complex mathematical modelling study which was not designed to give firm answers regarding the levels of acrylamide in pre-prepared fries, nor to attribute this to particular brands or distributors, tell us about levels that may be in other frozen chips, home-cooked chips or other pre-prepared products that contain potato or cereal products. 

'Most importantly it cannot confirm the potential health risk from acrylamide.'

The Food Standards Agency does not advise people to stop eating processed foods that are high in acrylamide, but do advise that a healthy balanced diet should be followed.

Source:Daily Mail UK