Potential Food Safety Hazard of Acrylamide in Deep Fried Fritter Sold as Street Food in Indonesia

Abstract

Food safety studies in Indonesian street food are mainly focused on microbiological risks. Therefore, this paper aims to review the food safety risk of acrylamide, a process contaminant, in Indonesian street food’s deep fried fritter. Acrylamide is a carcinogenic and neurotoxic compound formed when carbohydrate-rich material is heated above 120°C. Prevalence data was reviewed from selected papers on both laboratory simulation and monitoring studies while online survey was conducted to obtain the consumption data. It has been shown that deep fried fritter products meet the prerequisites for acrylamide formation. Considerable amount of asparagine and reducing sugars, the acrylamide precursors, were found in banana and sweet potato as the fritter’s material. The acrylamide content in deep fried fritter was found to be comparable with that of French fries with the highest value of 1789.5 and 1060 ng/g for banana fritter and sweet potato fritter, respectively. Using the worst/highest consumption-prevalence scenario, acrylamide intake from deep fried fritter in Indonesia may reach 895 µg of acrylamide per day which is equivalent to >5 times tolerable daily intake (TDI). Hence, it needs further and more robust risk assessment study.