Abstract
(English)
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Modern science has showed that heating of protein rich foods can generate various kinds of potentially hazardous compounds, some of which are genotoxic and carcinogenic. The focus of the HEATOX project, which is an international collaboration, is health risks recently discovered associated with hazardous compounds in heat-treated carbohydrate-rich foods where substantial amounts of acrylamide and similar compounds can be formed. HEATOX will explore their mechanisms of formation, impact of raw material composition, inhibiting factors, cooking and processing methods in industry and households with the aim to control and minimise the formation of hazardous compounds. Acrylamide is given particular emphasis, however, also other compounds such as _-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and furans, representing potential health hazards, are formed during heating. The efforts in reducing acrylamide exposure must not increase the formation of other hazardous compounds. To reduce the exposure, validated methods for food analysis and exposure biomarkers will be developed. Different hazards will be explored and characterised in various toxicological models, e.g. genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, neuro-developmental and reproductive toxicity. Molecular characterisation by toxicogenomics -will be performed. Both experimental animal- and cell systems and also humans will be studied. Particularly the relevance of low dose exposure, bioavailability and extrapolation from experimental systems to humans will be addressed. The exposure assessment and data on hazard characterisation; including data generated outside HEATOX, will be combined in a risk characterisation of intake heat-treated carbohydrate rich foods. The risk assessment including comparative risk assessment and ways to minimise the risk will provide new knowledge, which will be effectively communicated by HEATOX and its network to government, industry and the public in order to reduce health risks associated with food processing.
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