Assessment of the acrylamide level of cereal-based products from Romania market in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2158

Abstract

This study reports the acrylamide (AA) content of some cereal-based products purchased from different Romanian suppliers. The AA level was determined by using gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) in SRM mode. The analytical method was characterized by a high degree of sensitivity (limit of detection (LOD) = 1.23 μg/kg, and limit of quantification (LOQ) = 3.70 μg/kg). A total of 46 food samples of bread, biscuits, and similar products (doughnuts, cakes, cookies etc.) were analysed. The results showed that the AA level varied between food samples, for soft bread (5.63 – 85.05 μg/kg), biscuits (8.55 – 548.80 μg/kg), crackers (13.92 – 167.58 μg/kg) and for similar products (12.57 - 99.01 μg/kg) which were lower than the benchmark levels set by the Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2158. The highest AA content (548.80 μg/kg) was found for biscuits, while the lowest AA content (5.63 μg/kg) was obtained for wheatbased bread. From the  analysed products, 4 biscuit samples exceeded the benchmark levels of 350 μg/kg established by European Union.