Hot potato Acrylamide: It doesn't even sound appetizing. In fact, it sounds like something you'd find specimens of brains and eyeballs floating in inside dusty jars on the shelves of a mad scientist's laboratory. But regardless of the fact that it occurs naturally when potatoes are cooked, it's just as unfit for human consumption as it sounds. Several years ago, researchers in Sweden discovered that acrylamide caused cancer in lab rats. Since then, more and more studies have emerged linking this chemical to cancer formation. And it's not just potatoes you need to watch out for. Acrylamide forms when any starchy food is heated to high temperatures. That includes cooking processes generally considered healthy, such as baking and roasting, although frying is still the worst of the bunch. But heaven forbid anyone seriously consider giving up their precious potato chips and French fries (which appear to have the highest levels of acrylamide, or at least these are the primary scapegoats of most news stories regarding the chemical). Never fear, though: Researchers in Turkey are working tirelessly to develop a way to reduce acrylamide levels in these foods. Their latest venture involves dousing cut potatoes in a food additive called calcium chloride before sending them off to the deep fryer. Apparently, after soaking up the calcium chloride for an hour or so, the post-frying acrylamide levels were about 85 percent lower than normal. I don't know about you, but while less acrylamide does seem like a good thing, the words "calcium chloride" don't exactly make my mouth water either. Here's a newsflash for these researchers who think they're doing our collective health a favor by coating a defenseless piece of produce in a chemical additive prior to throwing it into a vat of boiling lard: You could soak potatoes -- or any other food -- in vitamin C for three weeks, but the minute you toss them into the deep fryer they're just not good for you anymore. Period. Thanks, but no thanks: Between popcorn lung and potato chip cancer, I think I'll stick to fresh fruits and vegetables to satisfy my snack attacks from now on… Sources:
"Common additive may stop acrylamide formation, suggests study," FoodNavigator (www.foodnavigator.com), 9/24/07
"Reduction of acrylamide formation by selected agents in fried potato crisps on industrial scale," Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies 2007; published online ahead of print 7/10/07
"Acrylamide formation is prevented by divalent cations during the Maillard reaction," Food Chemistry 2007; 103(1): 196-203 | 
