Acrylamide

A wet tater is a healthy tater, according to British researchers. Rinsing or soaking raw French fries in water before frying may reduce levels of acrylamide in the crunchy product, according to a team led by investigators at Leatherhead Food International, a food and beverage research and consulting company. The study appeared online last week in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Acrylamide, which is created in small amounts during production of French fries and potato chips, has been linked to cancer in rodents, and some researchers believe it may be carcinogenic to humans as well.

Four food manufacturers have agreed to reduce levels of a cancer-causing chemical in their potato chips and French fries in a settlement with the state of California. The attorney general's office announced the deals Friday with Heinz, Frito-Lay, Kettle Foods and Lance Inc. The lawsuits were filed under a state law that requires companies to post warnings about carcinogens in their products. The attorney general's office sued the manufacturers and several fast food companies in 2005 because their products contained high levels of acrylamide.

A California environmental group filed notices Thursday that it planned to sue food manufacturers to require them to put warnings on potato chips, which contain high amounts of a cancer-causing chemical formed when starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures. The state's anti-toxics law, Proposition 65, requires companies to warn consumers about products containing chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects.

Endorsing the view that reducing risk is always for the best are the California attorney general and environmental activists. They want to warn consumers about the presence of acrylamide, a known carcinogen, in French fries and potato chips. Taking a more pragmatic approach are food scientists. They say that acrylamide has been discovered in many foods -- black olives, coffee, bread, breakfast cereal -- and that humans have been eating the chemical for years with few, if any, ill effects.

INGREDIENTS in Preparation H once included a mercury compound known to cause reproductive problems. Nail polish came with toluene, a toxin that can cause developmental delays in children. Kiwi brand spray shoe polish contained a cancer-causing solvent. Progresso tomatoes and Old El Paso chiles were packed in cans sealed with lead solder.

Golden, greasy and oh-so good, French fries are the guilty staple of the American diet. But in California, a strict right-to-know law could soon force fast-food restaurants to tell customers that the ubiquitous fries may pack something worse than fat and cholesterol: a potential carcinogen.

Swedish researchers ignited an international furor when they reported in April that frying or baking starchy foods, such as French fries and potato chips, creates a cancer-causing chemical. Now, however, a new study has found that people who eat a lot of foods rich in the compound acrylamide have no increased risk of developing bladder, kidney or colorectal cancer.

French fries and potato chips have been dubbed villains when it comes to a possibly cancer-causing substance, but Americans get a lot of the chemical from everyday nutritious staples, government scientists said Monday. Fries and chips do contain more acrylamide than other fried or baked foods. But foods with low acrylamide levels that are eaten more frequently than junk food -- from vitamin-packed breakfast cereal to toast and coffee -- have a big effect on the U.S.