MFDS: "Acrylamide Levels Must Be Reduced in Infant Food and Cereal"

Recommended Standards for Food Items Containing Probable Carcinogens to Be Applied from January Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 15th that it plans to establish recommended standards for acrylamide in various foods and implement them starting January 1 next year as a preventive safety management measure against acrylamide, which can be generated when food is cooked or processed at high temperatures.

Acrylamide is a probable carcinogen that naturally occurs when carbohydrate-rich foods such as potatoes are heated or cooked at high temperatures (above 120℃).

This measure changes the previous advisory limit for acrylamide in potato snacks (1mg/kg), which has been in place since 2007, to legally binding recommended standards (0.3~1mg/kg), considering factors such as public sensitivity, exposure contribution rates, and contamination distribution. It aims to emphasize the food industry's efforts to reduce acrylamide.

The recommended acrylamide standards have been set for infant and toddler foods, cereals, snacks, French fries served at food service establishments, coffee, solid tea, processed grain products, and ready-to-eat foods.

Specifically, the standards apply as follows: ▲ infant and toddler foods and cereals at 0.3mg/kg or less ▲ roasted coffee, instant coffee, and preparedcoffee at 0.8mg/kg or less ▲ snacks, French fries (cooked foods at food service establishments), teas (solid tea), processed grain products, and ready-to-eat foods at 1mg/kg or less.

The recommended standards will apply to products manufactured, processed, or imported domestically after January 1, 2021, and the results of the implementation will be evaluated every two years to consider whether to convert them into official standards and regulations.

If the recommended standards are exceeded, the business operator will first be notified of the results and administrative guidance such as voluntary recall, production/import restraint, and reduction efforts will be conducted. If corrective actions are not taken, information about the products will be disclosed on the Food Safety Korea website so that consumers can be informed.

An official from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated, "We will inform the food industry and major export countries about the purpose of operating these recommended standards to improve operational efficiency and strive to ensure that the recommended standards can be used as management guidelines by the industry."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.