Are potato crisps a risk to health?

Acrylamide is a carcinogenic that is generated naturally when starch occurring in potatoes or grain products is heated at high temperatures.

The consumers’ organisation warns that acrylamide levels in potato crisps are too high. Test Aankoop examined 46 samples of crisps, 10 samples of crisp bread and 9 portions of home-baked chips. Acrylamide levels were compared with the norms used by the European Commission (EC).

The crisp bread and the chips posed no problems, but twenty percent of the crisp samples exceeded the norms.

The highest levels were recorded by products belonging to the Strato brand. The level was twice the norm permitted by the EC. Excessive levels were also recorded in Spar’s ribbed salted crisps. There were also problems with the vegetable crisps marketed by Terra Original.

The results show that you need to eat a kilo of crisps before you are consuming too much acrylamide.

Test Aankoop is now asking the EC to introduce legally binding norms.

Flandersnews.be / Expatica