Progress towards the production of potatoes and cereals with low acrylamide-forming potential

The presence of acrylamide in foods derived from grains, tubers, storage roots, beans and other crop products has become a difficult problem for the food industry. Here we review how acrylamide is formed predominantly from free asparagine and reducing sugars, the relationship between precursor concentration and acrylamide formation, and the challenge of complying with increasingly stringent regulations. Progress made in reducing acrylamide levels in foods is assessed, along with the difficulty of dealing with a raw material that may be highly variable due to plant responses to nutrition, disease and cold storage. The potential for plant breeding and biotechnology to deliver low acrylamide varieties is assessed, in the context of a regulatory landscape covering acrylamide, crop biotechnology and crop protection.