The Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom says overcooking potatoes and bread can cause cancer and their new campaign, Go For Gold, is aimed at discouraging families from cooking their potatoes into golden brown roasties, as acrylamide has been shown to cause disease in lab rats and mice.

Steve Wearne, the FSA’s director of policy, says: “The majority of people are not aware that acrylamide exists, or that they might be able to reduce their intake.”

The campaign is based on longstanding evidence from animal studies in 2002, but the link is yet to be proved in human studies. Some experts are highlighting that other lifestyle factors pose much greater cancer risks, such as smoking and obesity.

What exactly is the problem with these overcooked starchy foods? Earlier mouse studies identified that high levels of a compound called acrylamide led to an increased risk of cancer.


Acrylamide is what makes bread and potatoes turn golden in colour when fried, baked, toasted or roasted. The compound is formed from simple sugars, such as glucose, reacting with an amino acid, known as asparagine, when these foods are cooked at temperatures above 120 degrees Celsius. Asparagine is found naturally in starchy foods.

If cooked for too long, these foods turn from golden to brown and eventually black. As they do, they produce higher levels of acrylamide, further increasing your cancer risk, as highlighted by the FSA campaign, called "Go for Gold."

The campaign asks people to keep their food golden and not let it cook to those darker colours.
The aim is to increase awareness among the public. Although the research is not new, the agency believes that people remain unaware.

http://healthjourno.com/2017/01/24/foods-can-dangerous-undercooked-reheated/