Acrylamide is classified as a probably carcinogen to humans and is on the Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity in California. In most foods, acrylamide is formed through a reaction between asparagine and a reducing sugar in first steps of the Maillard reaction. Acrylamide formation generally occurs at cooking temperatures above 120 °C (e.g. roasting and baking) in low moisture conditions. Nuts, such as almonds, are naturally a low moisture food that have relatively high levels of free asparagine. Roasted nuts and their products (e.g. nut butters) have been shown to contain &gt; 200 µg kg<sup>-1</sup> (ppb) acrylamide. To date, the FDA recommends that manufacturers be aware of acrylamide levels in their products and most manufactures would like to achieve levels below 200 ppb. Acrylamide levels can vary significantly between products due to many factors including variable heat exposure within a roaster and sample variability (e.g. cultivar selection, moisture content, product age, etc.,). To date, little data is available on the ranges of acrylamide in nut and nut products as extensive sampling is required. Often, manufacturers only measure acrylamide levels in a single product in response to litigation and only a few samples are measured to determine levels of acrylamide across a product line. Additionally, little is known on how various coating processes influence measured acrylamide levels in foods. Herein, acrylamide levels were measured in a range of roasted nuts with variable coatings (e.g. salted, flavored, etc.,) and in roasted nut butters. Acrylamide was extracted using QuEChERS and quantified using a Hypercarb column (Thermo Scientific, US) and a 1290 Infinity ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography system (UHPLC) interfaced to a 6460 triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer (MS/MS) with electrospray ionization (ESI) (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA). Quantification was achieved using an internal calibration curve. The linear range was from 0.1-250ng/mL with linearity of R2 = 0.999. The recovery was 98.2 ± 3.6% among different matrix tested.<br/>

Influence of matrix and coatings in the analysis of acrylamide in nuts and nut products

2019 Fall National Meeting

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