Chips Ahoy

Why?

It’s not about your fat grams or even your tendency to overeat when you nosh on salty foods from a sack. It’s more about your heart and the consumption of Acrylimide, which can lead to hardening of the arteries, and raise the risk of cardiovascular disease.

This new study showed that consuming 160 grams of potato chips per day may increase levels of compounds linked to inflammation (i.e., Acrylamide), which may increase the risk of certain chronic disease.

Acrylamide is a suspected carcinogen that is formed by a heat-induced reaction between sugar and an amino acid called asparagine. Known as the Maillard reaction, this process is responsible for the brown colour and tasty flavour of baked, fried and toasted foods.

The compound first hit the headlines in 2002, when scientists at the Swedish Food Administration first reported unexpectedly high levels of acrylamide, found to cause cancer in laboratory rats, in carbohydrate-rich foods.

Since the Swedish discovery a global effort has been underway to amass data about this chemical. More than 200 research projects have been initiated around the world and their findings co-ordinated by national governments, the EU and the United Nations.

Despite being a carcinogen in the laboratory, many epidemiological studies have reported that everyday exposure to acrylamide in food is too low to be of concern.

The new study, while making no reference to cancer, does appear to increase the pressure on food manufacturers to reformulate in order to reduce or eliminate the levels of the compound in their products.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2009, Volume 89, Pages 773-777“Chronic intake of potato chips in humans increases the production of reactive oxygen radicals by leukocytes and increases plasma C-reactive protein: a pilot study”Authors: M. Naruszewicz, D. Zapolska-Downar, A. Kosmider