Acrylamide mitigation

DSM Food Specialties’ PreventASe has been given regulatory approval for its use as a processing aid in Australia and New Zealand. This latest approval for PreventASe opens up a key market; clearly demonstrating its commercial viability and international application as an effective method of acrylamide mitigation.

The approval comes as a result of DSM Food Specialties’ application to the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) to use asparaginase sourced from Aspergillus niger as a processing aid in food production to reduce acrylamide formation. This submission was also reviewed and approved by the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council. News of this change will now be included in the Australia and New Zealand Food Standards Code.

PreventASe is able to mitigate the formation of acrylamide in certain foods by as much as 90%. The PreventASe enzyme is a so-called asparaginase enzyme preparation from the Aspergillus niger microorganism. The enzyme basically converts one of the precursors of acrylamide, asparagine, into another naturally occurring amino acid, aspartate. As a result, asparagine is not available any more for the chemical reaction that forms acrylamide when carbohydrate-containing foods, such as bread, biscuits, crackers, processed potato products and cereals, are being heated.

Various authorities require the mitigation of its presence in food. Applying asparaginase in food in order to reduce acrylamide has been identified as one of the solutions by both industry associations and governmental institutions.