Acrylamide is an industrial chemical that isn't naturally found in foods, but is produced accidentally when sugars and other items in potatoes and grains are exposed to high cooking temperatures.

The decision to recommend placing acrylamide on the toxic list was announced in the Canada Gazette on 21 February and is part of an ongoing review by the federal government of nearly two hundred potentially harmful substances in widespread commercial use that have never been subject to extensive safety assessments.