Strategies for acrylamide mitigation in biscuits

Food safety deals with handling, preparation (processing), and storage of food to prevent food-borne illness. During all these phases, food might be subject to microbial, physical, and chemical contamination. Acrylamide is a process contaminant that is formed during heat treatment of food rich in proteins and sugars, while it is absent in raw foodstuffs. Most acrylamide is formed primarily through the Maillard reaction, which specifically involves the amino group of asparagine, the carbonyl group of reducing sugars, and intermediate molecules of the Maillard reaction. Acrylamide in biscuits represents a major concern. To date, there are no technological strategies to completely prevent acrylamide formation, although there are some ways to mitigate its concentration in food. This research work was aimed at modifying the current formulation of biscuits to reduce the acrylamide content while maintaining the chemical, physical, and sensory characteristics of the original product. A strategy based on the FoodDrinkEurope Acrylamide Toolbox was adopted. The content of the leavening agent ammonium bicarbonate, the baking temperature program, and the time duration of steam released during the baking process were the three factors evaluated through a factorial design of experiment. The partial replacement of ammonium bicarbonate (from 9.0 g to 1.5 g per 500 g of flour) with sodium bicarbonate (from 4.5 g to 12.48 g), lowering of the temperature in the central phase of the baking process (from 170 °C to 150 °C), and the release of steam for 3 min resulted in an 87.2% reduction in acrylamide concentration compared with control biscuits. Different analyses were performed on the sample set, CIELab color indices and aw were the parameters that showed the most significant correlation with acrylamide concentration in biscuits and could, therefore, become markers to predict the acrylamide content along production lines for an instant evaluation.