PreventASe reduces acrylamide in baked foods
Several acrylamide scandals, especially in germany, lead to an increased awareness of the customers and to economical problems of manufacturers of e.g. potatoe crisps in the past. Now, the company DSM Food Specialties, active worldwide in nutritional and pharma ingredients, performance materials and industrial chemicals, might have found a solution.
PreventASe, marketed by DSM, reduces acrylamide in food by up to 90%. The enzyme converts asparagine into aspartate, a naturally occurring amino acid, thus preventing the chemical reaction that usually forms acrylamide when carbohydrate-containing foods, for example bread, cake or cereals, are being heated.
Acrylamide is suspected to be genotoxic and carcinogenic and may indicate a human health concern, as expressed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). For the first time PreventASe is used in a food product by a German manufacturer of Christmas biscuits. Tests revealed a reduction of acrylamide by 70% in the biscuits, which will be sold in German stores by October.
“The launch in Germany is indeed a breakthrough. Our enzyme has been available for a couple of months for food manufacturers and we see that actual uptake is picking up now”, explains Judith Heikoop, DSM Food Specialities.
The enzyme can be applied as processing aid in food production worldwide. In France, the only EU country next to Denmark where the PreventASe needs approval, the French food health safety agency (AFSSA) already granted permission. “We received FDA aprroval and expect a positive decision in Denmark soon,” concludes Judith Heikoop.
02.09.2007
