Call for Data on Level of Acrylamide in Food and the Total Diet

	• Acrylamide Analytical Database New!

In order to perform a risk assessment of acrylamide in food, the levels of acrylamide in the total diet are required to provide an exposure assessment for the general population as well as certain vulnerable groups. This can be estimated from levels of acrylamide in individual foods or by conducting total diet studies, such as market basket and duplicate diet studies. Levels of acrylamide in food can also inform on foods and processing methods that offer risk management options which may need to be considered. Consequently, a call for data is being made for representative data on levels of acrylamide in food and the total diet which is both reliable and comparable at the international level. Ideally, samples should be representative of the entire country. Data from developing countries is particularly encouraged.

In addition to researchers and other users, these data will be provided to the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) for its safety evaluation of acrylamide in food. All data submitted will be provided to JECFA. Data that is deemed "confidential" by the submitter will be appropriately protected according to the current JECFA practice. In addition, limited access to aggregate data, i.e. mean, median, and 90th percentile levels, for acrylamide in food and food groups and total dietary exposure data will be made possible through this Web site. Data on individual food items will not be accessible without the consent of the data submitter.

Submission of Data

Historically, institutions have submitted data on levels of chemicals in food and the total diet to the WHO Global Environment Monitoring System / Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment Programme (GEMS/Food) using standardized data forms. In 1996 GEMS/Food started the development of a new data structure and protocols for the electronic submission of such data. These protocols involve encoding and formatting of data in a manner that is compatible with the database maintained at WHO Headquarters in Geneva. These protocols are also consistent with the database used to disseminate data through the SIGHT (Summary Information on Global Health Trends) portal, which provides public access to a number of important WHO databases. By following the protocols and completing all data fields, the quality control of electronic data submissions is simplified and improved. Consequently, data submission should conform to the protocols for individual and aggregate data on levels of acrylamide in specific food commodities and levels in the total diet of the general population and selected subgroups.

Data should be submitted using one of the three Excel templates provided. These templates are identical to those used by GEMS/Food except for additional fields for the identification of foods. While GEMS/Food has collected data on contaminants in raw agricultural commodities, acrylamide is most often associated with processed food. Consequently, several additional fields have been added to better identify the food and its processing (see Field 4). To complete these fields, several Excel spreadsheets are attached to provide appropriate codes. For all other fields, more detailed descriptions and codes are provided in the GEMS/Food Electronic Reporting Manual available at the WHO Website - http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/chem/en/gemsmanual.pdf.

If data being submitted are intended for evaluation by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), additional information should be provided to allow reviewers to independently assess the quality of the analytical work and the adequacy of the sampling plan. This information should be provided as a separate submission according to the questionnaire provided in Appendix 5 of the above mentioned reporting manual. Unless the questionnaire is completed, the full use of the submitted data may be impeded.

Follow the steps provided below to submit the data:

Step1:
Download the following Excel files:

• Acrylamide Templates - This Excel workbook contains three worksheets to enter information about individual, aggregate, and total diet data.



• Acrylamide Tables - This Excel workbook contains supportive information to fill out the Acrylamide Templates. The five Excel spreadsheets include information on CCFAC Food Categories, Codex Food Classification Codes, WHO Country Codes, Heating Codes, and Pretreatment Codes.

Step2:
Fill out the appropriate Acrylamide Template with the help of supportive information from the Acrylamide Tables as well as from GEMS/Food Electronic Reporting Manual.

Step3:
Email the completed Acrylamide Templates spreadsheet to info@acrylamide-food.org