Can Overcooking Harm Our Health?

Food Standards Agency warned that making your roast potatoes and fries too crunchy could increase the risk of cancer.

17:36 24 January 2017

Food Standards Agency warned against overcooking spuds and making roast potato too crunchy as it could increase the risk of cancer due to acrylamide, a chemical that is caused by the browning process.

 

The FSA suggests aiming for ‘a golden yellow colour, possibly a bit lighter’ when frying, baking, toasting or roasting starchy foods like potatoes, root veg and bread. It urges people to eat more mashed, boiled and steamed food and has alerted trade bodies representing fast-food firms of the concerns. Processed food manufacturers are also being warned.

 

Dr Guy Poppy, chief scientific adviser to the FSA, said: ‘I used to have a view that the nice way to make a roast potato was to pre-cook them, fluff them up so they have a large surface area and put them in a very high temperature oven.

 

'The point is that because of that surface area and cooking style, the amount of acrylamide will be higher.

 

‘It might be that eating two roast potatoes cooked like that will have the same acrylamide as five cooked in another way.

 

‘The amount of acrylamide in food has the potential to increase the risk of developing cancer for all ages during a lifetime of exposure.’