Though the FDA opposes labeling food for acrylamides, Terry Troxell, director of the Office of Plant and Dairy Foods and Beverages, says the agency may eventually call for new recommendations for home and industrial cooking.
"But before we go out and make major changes to the food supply, we need to understand the risk," Troxell says. "People agree, we need to reduce the levels. But how do you get there? How can we reduce the levels and still have a food supply that still has taste and flavors and colors we still enjoy."
In California, an acrylamide warning might be communicated by labels, signs in stores (as currently exist for mercury levels in fish markets), newspaper ads.
The point, says Weil, is to allow consumers to make their own informed choices.
"Your attorney general has singled out French fries and potato chips, which reveals that something else is going on here," says Elizabeth M. Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health, a consumer advocacy group that receives funding from the food industry.
"There's a huge list of foods containing acrylamide, including bread and olives. Maybe he decided he didn't want people to eat these so-called junk foods."
Weil denies any hidden agenda. "It's a convenient rationalization to say that it's an anti-junk food crusade, but it just isn't the case," he says. "We're picking the biggest hazard the way you do in most safety issues."
